


B. Blossom

by bambi_lu



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Angst, Domestic Violence, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, M/M, Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-09
Updated: 2014-02-09
Packaged: 2018-01-11 17:07:42
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 22,275
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1175642
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bambi_lu/pseuds/bambi_lu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"There is no such thing as a rose without thorns." Baekhyun is a florist working in Seoul, South Korea who reluctantly hires rich-boy Park Chanyeol to be his assistant by chance despite his inability to understand flowers. What Baekhyun doesn't know is that he's just met the man who will save his life in more ways than one.</p>
            </blockquote>





	B. Blossom

Baekhyun had never meant for things to come to this. He had never meant to drag Chanyeol into his own miserable life. But now the man lay beside him, breathing steadily in a deep slumber. He smiled to himself, pushing some curly brown hair out of the other boy’s eyes. Tomorrow, he would have to say goodbye, but tonight, he could allow himself this happiness.

÷

 

He’d first met Chanyeol on a rainy day in November. He remembered it clearly; for it was a day he’d forgotten his umbrella and had arrived at his shop completely drenched from the downpour. He had also lost his keys and had been forced to call the locksmith to open the doors. By the time he’d stepped inside and turned on the lights, he’d barely had time to save the poor flowers outside from wilting.

The flowers in question belonged to the most horrific bride of the century. In fact, it was the third bouquet he had arranged for her, and he could only hope that the third time would be the charm. The girl had burst into tears when she saw it, but she was able to manage to say, despite being a blubbering mess, that they were perfect and ‘exactly what she wanted’.

She’d called her fiancé over- the poor, brave soul that had agreed to marry this wretch of a woman. He looked more like a soaked, disgruntled puppy than a man ready for marriage, but he’d forced his best smile and told her that they were beautiful ‘just like her.’ Baekhyun had barely resisted the urge to roll his eyes. It was sickening how the lack of sincerity rang in each word like a broken church bell.

The woman then said she was leaving, and the man agreed that she should run along, that he would take care of everything. When he approached the counter, his eyes lit up, and a beautiful smile that could chase the clouds in the sky away with its radiant light crossed his face. And then he apologized. “I’m sorry about her. I know she’s caused you a lot of trouble. How much do I owe you?”

Baekhyun was surprised by the apology. Most men just gave him a sheepish smile as they handed their platinum over. “It’s alright. I am a florist. This is what I do for a living,” he then tried to explain that he had already been compensated by the bride’s family for the two ruined bouquets she had stomped her dirty feet upon rather than let him sell them on display, but this groom-to-be would have none of it. He insisted on paying double.

“You don’t have to take pity on me,” Baekhyun had said to him. “My shop does well. I’m not a charity case,” it wasn’t that his pride was wounded so much as that he wasn’t sure that he trusted this man’s intentions. But Chanyeol had only smiled and nodded, leaving Baekhyun there with the cash in hand as he said his goodbyes. He was a strange man one Baekhyun had thought he would never see again.

 

÷

 

His next run-in with Chanyeol was sooner than expected, though to be fair, he hadn’t expected it at all. In fact, it had been the very next day when the apologetic man had appeared once more inside the shop, this time to ask for another alteration to the bouquet his fiancée had already approved. Apparently once she got home, she changed her mind, but he’d taken pity on Baekhyun’s dealings with her and had offered to go back to the shop him. How noble, Baekhyun thought with a roll of his eyes, to be the scapegoat for an insufferable woman.

“I’m really sorry,” Chanyeol said, shrugging his shoulders in a sheepish way. “If there is anything I can do to make it up to you…”

Baekhyun frowned at that. “You already insisted on paying me for two arrangements that had already been covered by her family. I can do some adjustments to this one to make up for that,” he looked at the damaged flowers with disdain. He put such passion and heart into every arrangement, and to see it even slightly mangled ripped at his heart. How could someone not see the beauty in them? If she didn’t want them, why not just return them as she had gotten them? Someone else would have appreciated them.

“Right, you told me… But that doesn’t mean that I don’t feel responsible. She is my fiancée,” he continued to explain. Baekhyun wondered if it would be best to just ignore him, since what he was saying clearly wasn’t getting through his thick skull.

“Then you should talk to her, not me.” Baekhyun turned his back, but was stopped by a sudden exclamation.

“I know! What if I help you design the bouquet?”

The suggestion took Baekhyun completely off guard. He hadn’t been expecting something so outlandish, but then again, this man was clearly a pest and his usual venom wasn’t going to get rid of him so easily. “What do you know about designing flowers?”

“Well, nothing really…” Chanyeol had to admit. “But I’m a fast learner, and it’s the least I can do! Plus, if she gets mad again, it won’t be your fault. She can yell at me.”

Baekhyun felt like he must have spent hours staring at Chanyeol calling him a slew of synonyms for ‘crazy’ in his head. It wasn’t something that he wanted to do comply with, especially because he believed that this man would kill his precious flowers. He was truly like an over-eager puppy, one who didn’t understand how to be delicate and sensible but ran headfirst into things without a second thought.

And, he had to wonder just how rich this guy was to consider working at a flower shop, designing a bouquet for free. He had to wonder how crazy he was that he was actually considering saying yes.

“Do you really want to waste your time in a flower shop?” Baekhyun looked up from the vase he was hovering over while he tried to pick out the flowers without damage to salvage them. “It’s not an easy job.”

Chanyeol didn’t hear him, it seemed, for he continued grinning. “So that’s a yes?”

“You can come in on Monday, and I’ll show you around-“

“Great! You won’t be disappointed, Byun-sshi!” Chanyeol beamed at him, cutting him off before he could begin to explain what his duties would entail.

“Don’t promise me that. Please don’t,” Baekhyun forced a smile, but it was more like a grimace. He really must have lost his mind to have agreed to it. All he wanted to do was smack the stupid smile off the man’s face or give him a good kick in the legs to stop that pep in his step as he made his way to the door. “Wait!” Baekhyun called. “I didn’t get your name.”

“Oh. It’s Chanyeol… Park Chanyeol.”

 

÷

 

The next day was one Baekhyun would never forget. Chanyeol was waiting outside the shop before Baekhyun had even arrived. In his hands were two peppermint hot chocolates and sticky buns from a café he had passed on his way there. Baekhyun hadn’t questioned how he’d carried it all or why it was still hot. He was just grateful for the gesture, seeing as all he’d had for breakfast had been some leftover kimchi fried rice from the night before.

They had started out learning the basics. Chanyeol was a quick learner, though he wasn’t very intelligent when it came to flowers. Baekhyun hadn’t been expecting anything more seeing that Chanyeol was obviously some poor, little rich boy who had decided to take on this job out of some sense of self-righteousness and pity for the flower shop owner. It irritated Baekhyun who knew that he didn’t need Chanyeol’s help in order to run a successful business. It may not have been a glamorous, flashy job, but it was the one Baekhyun had chosen.

The first order of business was to begin work on Chanyeol’s fiancée’s bridal bouquet. After showing Chanyeol how the shop worked, he left the man to pick out the flowers that he wished to see in her design. It was rare that Baekhyun didn’t know what a bride wanted after discussing the theme with her. Usually the women had some sense of the overall theme or a favorite flower that they wanted to see featured in the bouquet. He’d tried all of the basics and even some more exotic flowers only to have each of them trashed when she threw her spoiled tantrum.

Baekhyun tended to the customers as well as the other orders while Chanyeol poured over the design. There was no way that Baekhyun was going to let Chanyeol arrange the flowers seeing as he’d already snapped a beautiful lilac in half just by picking it up, but he trusted that he would know his betrothed well enough to be able to determine what she would like to see.

At the end of the day, Chanyeol still had to make some final touches, so Baekhyun began to close up shop as he did so. Finally, he’d told the man to take the paper home and think about it before they began work on the arrangement, and so he did.

 

÷

 

The next morning, Chanyeol was there with the hot, creamy coffee and a bagel for Baekhyun to eat. It was a strange gesture, one that Baekhyun hadn’t expected even though Chanyeol had done the same thing the previous day. He had assumed it was some strange tradition for his first day of work; he hadn’t expected it to carry over once again. But he accepted it graciously, thanking Chanyeol for his kindness.

While Baekhyun set up shop, Chanyeol took out the sheet of paper which he’d taken home to work on. Baekhyun shut the door to the freezer and walked over to where the man stood gazing proudly over his work. “Are you finished, then?”

“Yeah, took me all night, but I think I did a good job!”

Baekhyun couldn’t help but wonder why Chanyeol didn’t seem more excited about it, but he assumed the man was also getting tired of his wife-to-be’s erratic behavior. There was a reason Baekhyun didn’t like the idea of marriage, and the crazy spouses he saw in his shop was just one of them- Chanyeol was no exception, only worse because Baekhyun couldn’t seem to get rid of him.

“Let’s see it then,” he took the paper from Chanyeol and began to look it over. Immediately, he was shocked by what he saw. The flowers Chanyeol had chosen were unusual for a bridal bouquet, and they certainly weren’t unusual flowers at all. “Chanyeol, none of these flowers are really… appropriate for a wedding,” he tried to break the news gently, but the taller man only shrugged at him.

“You asked me to design it, right? Well, I did.”

Baekhyun frowned visibly at that. “Yes, but this isn’t a joke. Some of your choices are… well…”

“Well what?”

“They’re a bit insulting,” Baekhyun informed.

“I just looked at the flowers in the book you showed me, and I chose the ones I thought would suit her best,” Chanyeol said evenly in a tone that seemed so uncharacteristic of his wounded puppy expressions.

Baekhyun didn’t know how to break it to him that while certainly a colorful, creative bouquet, the meanings behind the flowers that Chanyeol had chosen for his bride-to-be were not very good omens. He couldn’t expect him to know all of the secret meanings like he did, but it did strike him as odd that he had chosen flowers so unfitting of a beautiful wedding day.

Rather than put up a fuss, however, Baekhyun moved to the freezer where he began to pull out some of the flowers in order to create a sample bouquet. There was time before the shop opened yet, and even when it did, they would not be busy until mid-morning. “Poppies are very beautiful flowers, you know,” Baekhyun chose one of the scarlet petals and placed it delicately inside the frame. “They symbolize extravagance, so they are not commonly used in wedding arrangements...”

Chanyeol didn’t respond; he just watched Baekhyun work in awe. It was really quite amazing to see Baekhyun actually work with the flowers. He treated them delicately, as if they were an extension of himself. Each stem was placed with the utmost care into the arrangement.

“Artemisia is lovely as well… If you really want to use it, I will need to order more,” he neglected to tell Chanyeol that it symbolized absence which is why it was often used in bouquets sent to someone who had moved away or perhaps was leaving.

“The same goes for Abatina. I only have a few of them,” he placed them gingerly into the frame. “It is a flower of fickleness and can be quite temperamental,” still, Chanyeol’s expression did not change despite the news that the flowers he was choosing could be taken as a great insult to the woman he was supposed to marry. “Lavender seems like a good choice- it is popular, and its meaning of calmness, grace, and tranquility makes it a flower I frequently work with,” he did not mention that given Chanyeol’s other choices, its lesser known quality of distrust was more appropriate.

Baekhyun paused as he came to the final flower to add to the bridal bouquet. “Rosebay…” the flower whose signal says to ‘beware’, Baekhyun mentally noted. He didn’t look at Chanyeol this time as he placed the final stems within the set.

The bouquet itself was beautiful, though Baekhyun couldn’t say that he saw it as something to be used in a wedding. It was twisted and perverse in its meaning, though beautiful and vibrant on the outside.

“I think she’ll like it. She doesn’t believe in that sort of thing,” Chanyeol’s dim expression turned into his bright, sunny smile as he hopped over to inspect the flowers, leaning in to sniff each one with a childlike wonder. Baekhyun had to wonder if he’d researched the meanings of flowers and chosen them on purpose or if it was just an odd coincidence.

Before he could ask him if he was sure, the ringing bell of the door signaled their first customer. Baekhyun watched as Chanyeol left to greet them before he sighed and looked at his creation. Something told him that even if the flowers hadn’t been chosen with their meanings in mind, they were perfect for the woman who was meant to carry them down the aisle.

 

÷

 

Baekhyun quickly discovered that Chanyeol was far from the best assistant he could have asked for. He was clumsy, always dropping things, including expensive vases. He wasn’t good with flowers; they seemed to wilt at the sight of him. And, he wasn’t particularly very bright when it came to catching onto new skills quickly, but he had a good heart. It had been three weeks since Chanyeol had started working at the flower shop, and Baekhyun found himself looking forward to seeing that stupid grin and those bright, twinkling eyes.

“Careful,” Chanyeol caught him around the waist one day just as he teetered back on a ladder. Baekhyun hadn’t actually needed any help, he was just catching his balance, but Chanyeol was there to grab him. A soft blush spread across his cheeks and he swatted him away, trying to hide his embarrassment.

“I’m fine,” Baekhyun mumbled and sent Chanyeol on his way to talk to the customers, but he couldn’t stop the smile spreading across his own face. He looked forward to the little touches here and there as Chanyeol rested his head on top of his own or pushed his hair out of his eyes. Part of him wondered if Chanyeol was doing it on purpose and part of him wondered if he was really that damn oblivious.

He looked forward to the incessant chatter and how Chanyeol couldn’t seem to leave any secret left unsaid. It wasn’t hard to learn about the other man because he was more than happy to tell him. He was born in Seoul and had lived there his whole life. His parents owned the Park Conglomerate, so he’d grown up in the life of luxury, but other than that, he insisted he was normal. He was average in school, had average friends, and worked an average job in university. But now, he was going to have to take his seat at his father’s company, and that is how he found himself engaged to the miserable girl Baekhyun had the pleasure of meeting before any of this started.

She was the daughter of a rival company’s CEO, and her marriage to Chanyeol would mean the merger between the two national business moguls. Chanyeol didn’t want to marry her, but he really had no choice in the matter. It was either that or face being disowned by his family, so he went along with it, trying his best to make his parents proud. Baekhyun had tried not to laugh at the absurdity of it, but he could never imagine not marrying for love, and he told Chanyeol this. Chanyeol hadn’t responded, and Baekhyun realized that despite his outward compliance, Chanyeol wasn’t happy about the direction in which his life was headed.

“Do you love her?” Baekhyun asked one day, musing to himself aloud as he filled one of the requests for a dozen red roses. It was a stereotypical request, but Baekhyun couldn’t deny the grand gesture that came with twelve, beautifully clipped, red roses.

“What?” Chanyeol appeared startled at the question if the way he almost dropped the vase he was shelving was any indication.

“I asked if you loved her.”

“Well… no.”

The answer was so blunt that it surprised Baekhyun, causing there to be a small crash and it was his own doing rather than his clumsy assistant’s. He knelt down to pick up the pieces and was stopped by Chanyeol who shook his head. “Let me get the dust pan.”

Baekhyun stood and watched as Chanyeol swept away the broken fragments of the crystal butterfly he’d planned to attach to the bouquet. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked. It was uncalled for.”

“You don’t have to apologize,” Chanyeol sighed. “It was pretty obvious, huh?”

“To me or to her?”

“I hope it isn’t obvious to her,” there was some nervous laughter, but Chanyeol seemed as if he felt guilty for it. “It’s an arranged marriage, you know? It would be too much good luck if I loved her so soon. I am hoping that one day, maybe, with time, we can grow to love each other.”

“She seems fairly smitten with you, though,” Baekhyun observed, placing the final lily in the bridal bouquet for his next customer.

“It’s just my family’s name that she wants. She’s just like all of the rest.” Chanyeol’s voice gave more away about his true feelings to the girl than any words that had left his mouth.

Baekhyun decided not to pursue any further on that line of questioning. It was too soon to be delving into such personal matters. He already felt as if he’d crossed some unspoken boundaries by questioning Chanyeol’s devotion to his fiancée. Instead, he changed the subject before Chanyeol could turn the line of questions onto him. He was not ready to discuss that with someone, not yet, and he couldn’t expect Chanyeol to be either.

 

÷

 

Today would mark exactly one month since he began working at the flower shop. Chanyeol was chatting with customers as they came in- talking with them as if he had knowledge of flowers, but really, Baekhyun had found that Chanyeol’s strength lay in his art of persuasion. The way he could talk and relate to people was a skill Baekhyun greatly admired yet could never hope to have. Chanyeol could make a stranger feel like his very best friend.

Baekhyun glanced over at him and exchanged a warm, kind smile when he heard the door open and saw the devil herself appear. “Chanyeollie, so this is where you’ve been getting off to,” she said with a honey-coated voice. She was a pretty girl by anyone’s standards, but Baekhyun found himself picking her apart from her chosen hairstyle to the shoes on her feet.

As Chanyeol went over to her to kiss her, Baekhyun’s heart flipped oddly in his chest, and he had to force himself to look away. He couldn’t understand why he felt so jealous of this girl. It wasn’t as if he wasn’t in a relationship or that he had feelings for Chanyeol. But he and Chanyeol never talked about their lovers aside from brief mentions, surprisingly enough.

For Baekhyun, he couldn’t find anything nice to say, and for Chanyeol, he never asked. And so they kept things professional when they weren’t outside sharing a smoke or catching a drink after work at the local bar on the street.

He couldn’t continue to listen to Chanyeol’s apologies or excuses to the girl, so he mentally excused himself and moved to the aisles to reorganize the flowers. But, he also couldn’t help himself, and so he peered over the shelves to watch them.

“If your father knew that you were working in a place like this…”

“I know. That’s why you won’t tell him,” Chanyeol said, his face faltering. It was different to see Chanyeol in this element. The light in his eyes was gone, replaced by a coldness Baekhyun never had the chance to see in him. It’s chilling, really, a glimpse into the world Chanyeol left behind every day he sets foot into this small floral space.

“But I-“

Chanyeol gazed at her evenly. “You won’t tell him.”

She huffed angrily. “Fine. I won’t tell him. But this ends as soon as we’re married, do you understand me? I’m with him on this. I won’t have you associating with some commoners just because you’re bored. You have an image to maintain if you’re going to become the company head.” The words should have stung more, but Baekhyun was unable to muster up any feelings of inadequacy. It wasn’t as if he cared what these people thought of him.

“… Okay,” Chanyeol agreed with a heavy sigh. “Go home and get some rest, yeah? You have a wedding to plan.”

The girl only stayed a few more minutes, chattering away about the topic of their wedding before she left his shop. It was the longest few moments of Baekhyun’s life. He couldn’t understand why he was so affected by Chanyeol’s agreement to leave the shop after the wedding, though he hadn’t cared what names the woman had called him. Perhaps he had grown accustomed to having him around after all this time. It was only a month, but it felt like it had been a year. It was all too natural to come through the door and see Chanyeol’s beaming smile. To know that it wasn’t going to last forever was a rude awakening.

When Chanyeol finally returned to post, Baekhyun offered him a small smile and he received one in return. For now, they would both go on with their friendship as long as if nothing had happened.

 

÷

 

It had only been two weeks since Chanyeol’s fiancée had shown up at the shop, and in those two weeks so many things had begun to change. Chanyeol was no longer coming in early or staying over late. Gone were the evening bar-runs or morning cigarette chats. When he was at the shop, he kept a friendly yet polite distance from everyone. Baekhyun wanted to talk to him about it, but he realized that he and Chanyeol weren’t exactly what most people would call friends, and yet Chanyeol is the closest thing to a friend Baekhyun has ever had.

Despite the fact that his week seemed to be getting worse and worse every passing second, a buzz from his phone made him light up with joy. As he looked down at the screen, a very familiar, very welcome name was staring back at him.

Chanyeol must have noticed the stupid grin on his face because he came over to him, smiling as well. “You look happy for once! What’s the occasion?” Baekhyun had to quickly hide the phone so that Chanyeol wouldn’t read over his shoulder. The other boy had a habit of doing that, and it honestly made Baekhyun a little uncomfortable, though he had nothing to hide.

“Ah, well…” he wondered, at first, if he should tell Chanyeol. He had never talked about his personal life in that much detail, and he most certainly had not told Chanyeol that he was homosexual. He never told anyone that, and if he had, it would have to be someone he trusted a lot more than a man he’d only known for a little over a month. “Someone very important to me is going to come visit today.” He explained in a careful tone, not wanting to divulge anything too revealing.

“Ooh,” Chanyeol grinned, and Baekhyun found himself wanting to smack that cheeky look off his stupid face. That wasn’t exactly an uncommon emotion as far as Baekhyun was concerned when Chanyeol was around. “Someone special? You mean your girlfriend?”

“Something like that.”

“You didn’t tell me that you had a girlfriend!” Chanyeol actually had the nerve to sound offended to which Baekhyun couldn’t help but scoff in his direction.

“So? You never told me that you were going to quit after your wedding.” As soon as the words left his mouth, Baekhyun realized that it had been a mistake to say that. Chanyeol’s expression faltered and the grin did leave his face though not for the reasons Baekhyun wanted. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean…” he couldn’t find the words. Didn’t mean what? To bring that up? To spy on him?

Chanyeol waved it off and shrugged before putting on a smile again, though this time it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “It’s okay. I just don’t want to think about it. Believe it or not, I’m really enjoying my time here. It’s refreshing.”

It was a sentiment Baekhyun couldn’t quite say he understood; he didn’t quite get how working a poor man’s job was refreshing when he earned millions every year just from sitting in a stuffy office. But Baekhyun wasn’t ever really wealthy, so he couldn’t sympathize with the upper class’s “problems” like arranged marriages or boredom while earning a ridiculous amount of cash. But still, he could at least pretend to sympathize, so he nodded in response, deciding to let his physical response speak louder than his words.

They worked in silence, Baekhyun not trusting himself to speak again. He had clearly overstepped a boundary with his last words. Chanyeol had really been working hard which wasn’t at all what Baekhyun would have thought a rich boy of being capable. Despite his shortcomings in talent, he made up for it in enthusiasm and willingness to learn. Chanyeol seemed to forgive Baekhyun after only a few hours, making his way over to him and leaning his chin on his shoulder as he watched him work with the flowers.

“What on earth do you think you’re doing?” Baekhyun barely spared him a glance, trying to ignore the way the heat rushed to his cheeks and his heart pounded loudly in his ears.

“I’m trying to cheer you up.”

“Stop it, you’re being annoying,” Baekhyun grabbed one of the flowers he was working with and uses it to bop Chanyeol on the head which makes the other man laugh. Chanyeol had a beautiful laugh, too. It was infectious and made Baekhyun’s own lips crack into a smile until he was laughing too. “You’re such an idiot. Why do I even put up with you?”

“Why indeed?”

The familiar voice made Baekhyun’s blood run cold, and he jerked away from Chanyeol sharply, whirring around. There, standing was a very handsome man, dressed casually though he looked as if he belonged on the cover of a magazine. His dark hair was thick, combed back, and perfectly styled. He had high cheek-bones and double-eyelids to make a girl’s heart melt. He was a little shorter than Chanyeol, but only be an inch or two which was impressive, though unlike Chanyeol he doesn’t look so lanky and strung-out. He was, rather, built and sturdy.

“Tae Suk…” Baekhyun breathed out, wiping his hands off and making his way over to him. It would take an idiot not to notice the way Baekhyun was grinning, but it would take a more observant person to notice the anxiety and apprehension that manifested in the smallest of ways. His eyes were just a little too wide, and his hands would not stop playing with the small gardener’s apron. “You actually came. I didn’t think you would!”

Little did Baekhyun know Chanyeol was that person.

Baekhyun had been with his boyfriend Tae Suk for nearly five years. It was impressive by most peoples’ standards in modern days. He’d met then man by chance and fallen for him over night. At the time, Tae Suk had just started university and Baekhyun was in second-year of high school. He had just been coming to terms with his sexuality and had been looking for a way to express himself without destroying the relationship he had with his family.

Unfortunately, they had found out anyways, but Tae Suk had been loving and supportive. He had always been there for him and had even let Baekhyun move in with him when he’d needed a place to stay.

But Tae Suk was busy. He was a director of films, so he was always away. It was rare that Baekhyun saw him these days which made moments like these all the more dear to him. Baekhyun couldn’t see the way Chanyeol faltered as Tae Suk hugged him nor his worried expression as the man took him by the wrist and let him out to the back of the store. Baekhyun was beaming now, all anxiety was gone. His Tae Suk was here, he’d kept his promise.

“Tae Suk, I’m so happy you came! There’s so much I can show you! You’ll have to see the bouquet I’m working on. There’s one I made for you for your grand opening, I thought-“

A resounding smack sent Baekhyun recoiling back, a gasp of pain elicited from his lip. Tears began to sting his eyes as he fell back against the brick wall, his hand reaching up to touch the injured area. The state of shock prevented him from feeling the remaining blows over his head and across his face. Tae Suk didn’t say anything. He never said anything, and Baekhyun didn’t have it in him to cry out for help. Perhaps he was ashamed or perhaps he felt he deserved it.

Rough, calloused hands grabbed his delicate wrists roughly. “What were you doing with him?!” Baekhyun did not answer which earned him a hard, jarring shake. “Tell me! Who is he?!”

“Please stop. Y-You know I’m not doing anything,” Baekhyun pleaded in a tiny voice, the only sound he could muster. But instead of stopping, Tae Suk just shook him again.

“Answer me, you cheating whore!”

“Cheating? Ha…” Baekhyun was surprised by the words that followed. “That’s rich, coming from the cheating master himself.” He expected the hard blow that was delivered, but that didn’t make it hurt less. But at least Tae Suk had finally let him go, leaving him to clutch his face and double over from the dizzy feeling that was sinking in.

“Tell me who the fuck he is or I swear to god-“

“-What? You’ll hit me?” Baekhyun could see from under his bangs the way Tae Suk’s eyes narrowed, and he realized he didn’t want to push his luck any further. His body screamed at him to surrender, and he did. He always did, despite the fact it made him feel weak and disgusting each time he realized he was going to give in to this man.

“His name is Park Chanyeol… he’s working here part time to pay for the bouquets his fiancée ruined, okay? There’s nothing going on between us.”

“He was all over you back there.”

“That’s just how he is,” he was rewarded with another warning look, and he sighed. “I’ll tell him to stop. I didn’t think anything of it...”

“No, you’re going to tell him to quit,” Tae Suk informed him with such conviction that Baekhyun had to bite his tongue to keep from reminding him that he was not the one who owned the flower shop so he wasn’t the one who got to make the decisions.

“My shop is busy this time of year. I could really use the help.”

“Then hire someone else. Not him.” Tae Suk turns on his heel and heads for the door.

“Hire who!? A pretty girl so you can fuck her, too!? I’m not dispensable, you know! I’m your boyfriend!” Baekhyun screamed at him, but it fell on deaf ears.

“Then start acting like it.”

Just like that, Tae Suk was gone. Baekhyun leaned against the wall and let out the sobs he had been holding back. He wouldn’t let Tae Suk know just how much their fights affected him, if one could call the fact Baekhyun got the shit beaten out of him an actual fight. It was abuse, and Baekhyun knew it, deep down he knew it, but he was too weak to do anything about it, and that just infuriated him even more.

He sobbed until his lungs hurt and his throat was sore. He sobbed until he could not cry anymore. And when he was done, he picked himself up. He wiped away the blood and dirt from his hands and face with his little green apron, and he went into the back room to apply his foundation.

The bruises from last time were almost gone, but now there were new ones where they had been- deep, purple, ugly bruises that marred his otherwise flawless skin. He dabbed the creamy substance around the affected skin and under his eyes until the person he saw looking back at him wasn’t the person who was once again the victim of domestic abuse.

When he returned to the storefront, he didn’t say anything to Chanyeol despite the worried gaze. It was only to the incessant questions of his well-being that provoked him to respond in any way. And, if he was honest with himself, he had to keep from laughing at the irony as he replied.

“I’m fine,” he said.

“I’m fine.”

 

÷

 

This was how Baekhyun found himself sitting at the bar, alone, nursing a drink and a bruised cheek. Nothing could numb the pain of his current situation like a nice, strong glass of liquor. The bartender was busy tending to other customers which was fine by Baekhyun. He would rather be left alone to wallow in his self-pity. It was only a little less shameful this way to be one of the nameless faces who came into the establishment to pretend their problems didn’t exist.

Sometimes he liked to try to guess why people were there. There was a woman who looked like a school teacher whose tight bun, glasses, and buttoned up shirt came undone by the end of the night. There was a man in a fine, expensive suit and briefcase who always ended up in tears before he passed out. And then there was him, Byun Baekhyun, a boy who tried to hide his pain with cheap foundation and eyes accentuated by black lines so that no one would discover the truth of his miserable life.

He raised his hand for another drink and was surprised to find a hand much larger than his own taking a gentle hold of his wrist and lowering it back to the table. “Tae Suk, I told you, I-“ he stopped as his eyes met the large, worried eyes of Park Chanyeol. Immediately, he jerked back as if he had been burned by fire, and Chanyeol let his wrist go, but he didn’t stop gazing at him with that same concerned expression. “What are you doing here?” he hissed.

“This is where we used to go, remember?” Chanyeol told him. “I was worried about you. I thought I might find you here.”

Baekhyun averted his gaze. “I told you that I was fine. What’s with you today?”

“Look at me.” Before Baekhyun could protest, Chanyeol placed his thumb and forefinger on Baekhyun’s chin and tilted his head back so that he could fully look at him. His palm then moved over to his cheek, and his thumb gently brushed over the patch of make-up to reveal the ugly purple bruise. “I know it’s none of my business, but-“

“You’re right,” Baekhyun retorted. “It is none of your business.”

Chanyeol looked as if Baekhyun had just kicked him, and for a moment, Baekhyun almost felt guilty. But he couldn’t allow himself to feel guilty because it wasn’t his fault that the man was sticking his nose in someone else’s business. They were acquaintances, perhaps work friends at best. Chanyeol had already made it perfectly clear that he didn’t intend to stick around after his marriage, and Baekhyun was mentally kicking himself the he thought that the other man could have possibly been a friend to him.

“I’m sorry,” Chanyeol said after a long moment’s pause.

“Good.”

“No, you don’t understand. I’m sorry, Baekhyun,” he lowered his hand and turned back to the counter, flagging down the bartender so that he could place his own drink order. “I didn’t mean to… I just…” he growled under his breath, clearly frustrated.

Baekhyun snorted into his drink and took a long gulp before slamming it down on the counter. “Just spit it out already.”

“I didn’t mean to get so involved with you, but when I came to the shop, there you were, and you were… the most beautiful man I’ve ever seen. I convinced my fiancé to get her bouquet from you, you know,” Chanyeol took the drink the bartender brought him and sipped on it, not daring to look over to where Baekhyun has sat his own down and is staring over at him with a surprised look. “And then I saw how you worked with the flowers. There was just something about how you put your heart and soul into caring for them, every arrangement you made was beautiful. I wanted to find out what it was that made you so passionate- so beautiful.”

Though Chanyeol couldn’t see it, Baekhyun had started to blush. It was small at first, creeping upwards from his cheeks to the corners of his ears, but it was there, and it wasn’t caused by the alcohol. “You shouldn’t be saying these things. You have a fiancé, and I have a boyfriend,” Baekhyun informed him, though his voice lacked the conviction that he hoped it would have.

“Let me finish,” his words made Baekhyun fall silent. He had never seen Chanyeol speak so passionately about something, and he is surprised to find that something- someone- is him. “I thought that maybe if I could understand how you worked that maybe I could make myself into someone worthy of you.”

“Chanyeol, you have a fiancée-“ Baekhyun was cut off.

“I said let me finish!” Chanyeol looked at him pleadingly. Baekhyun wasn’t able to understand why Chanyeol was saying this now, especially about him. “I know it sounds stupid- crazy, even- but I really fell for you. I know that I can’t have you. I know that everything is impossible, I know that what I’m saying is a fool’s dream, but I can’t stop the way I feel about you. You don’t have to accept it. You don’t have to return it. I just had to tell you.” Chanyeol finished, his gaze still averted from Baekhyun, as if afraid of his reaction. And he should be.

Baekhyun couldn’t seem to discern the emotion he was feeling, but he knew that there was anger- a lot of anger. He was angry that Chanyeol would keep this from him. He was angry that he would even let himself feel this way or think these thoughts. He was angry that he saw everything he wanted in a relationship with this man who wasn’t his boyfriend. He had been fine, content really, to accept the reality of his dismal situation because he had never thought anyone else would want him. To be homosexual in a place like Seoul meant that his options were limited because no one really wanted to be gay, and many were like Chanyeol, marrying women and continuing their lives as normal because it was expected of them.

But there was also a small, very peculiar sense of happiness, and it was just big enough that Baekhyun couldn’t ignore it. Perhaps it was because his guard was already lowered from the alcohol or perhaps it was because he was having a bad day. For whatever reason, he found his hand reaching out to take the other man’s in his own and giving it a gentle, reassuring squeeze. And when he looked at him, truly looked at him, he knew that everything was about to change.

 

÷

 

His hands shook as he tried to find the key to his apartment. Hushed whispers and soft giggles escaped parted lips as they tore from one another for much desperately needed air. The walk home had been painful in its silence, but as soon as they were on the secluded streets, their hands couldn’t be kept off one another. Chanyeol let his large hands roam down Baekhyun’s perfectly thin body, gripping and grabbing at him like an animal in heat. Baekhyun laughed, pushing him off playfully, but he’d been swept up in the impulsiveness, finding himself returning the fevered kisses under the pale moonlight.

Finally, the metal slid inside the handle, and Baekhyun pulled it open, laughing as he stumbled inside. Shoes were kicked off in a hurry, and Baekhyun stumbled back only to be caught by the man that was driving him crazy. Chanyeol pressed him up against the wall and kissed his neck while Baekhyun fumbled for the light switch to illuminate the small foyer. “Nngh, Chanyeol,” he pushed at him. “We need... bed...”

He gasped as he was lifted up from the floor, his legs immediately hooking around the taller man’s waist. Impatience got the better of both of them, and they began to grind and move in a synchronized rhythm that sends both of their bodies shivering. Chanyeol’s tongue pushed its way past his lips, and he sucked greedily on it, his perfectly manicured nails digging in to the cloth of Chanyeol’s shirt.

And then he was falling, lowered to the floor as Chanyeol started to push insistently at his pants. He could only laugh as he grabbed the strings of the other’s hood and pulled him back towards the bedroom.

But Baekhyun’s legs couldn’t seem to keep up with his mind, and he found himself stumbling, landing with a soft ‘oomph’ on his back across the plush comforter and mattress. “Chanyeol, I-“ their mouths crashed together again as they kissed hungrily, as if the other may disappear at any moment. Broad hands snaked their way under the thick woven material of Baekhyun’s sweater and soft cotton of his under shirt before they pushed it all up so that it bunched under his armpits.

Chanyeol’s mouth finally pulled away from his own before trailing lower down his neck while his hands caressed the pale expanse of skin. If Chanyeol noticed the bruises, he didn’t say anything about them. “You’re so beautiful, Baekhyun,” his breath ghosted over the skin, causing Baekhyun to shiver with want. It had been a long time since anyone had called him beautiful.

Baekhyun watched as Chanyeol let his fingers dance down towards the waistband of his pants and began to pry away the bothersome button and push down the zipper to free Baekhyun’s slowly hardening arousal. If he had been younger or more innocent, he might have blushed, but instead he turned his head away and prayed that Chanyeol wouldn’t have second thoughts after seeing him unclothed.

“I want to make you scream for me.”

“Chanyeol, what-“ Baekhyun cried out loudly as Chanyeol’s warm mouth wrapped around the tent of his boxers. He could feel the wet tongue laving across the clothed skin, teasing him with what was to come before pulling back to nuzzle the area gently. The treatment was not one to which Baekhyun was used. Tae Suk had long since stopped the foreplay and romancing. Baekhyun’s body had become little more than a receptacle for his pleasure.

But with Chanyeol, everything was different. The man used his nose and lips to push the thin material around Baekhyun’s arousal so that it sprang up to attention, wet and leaking, ready for him to consume down his throat. And he did, enveloping the sensitive skin inside the tight, warmth recesses of his mouth. Baekhyun’s eyes watched the man hungrily, and his fists tightened in Chanyeol’s hair. “A-ah, Chanyeol, please… you don’t have to do this.”

The slurping noises coming from Chanyeol’s mouth were loud and lewd. His tongue rolled around the head expertly and pushed away the foreskin, allowing the sensitive head to be exposed to the onslaught of pleasurable sensations. He pulled off of him with a resounding ‘pop’ and licked his lips, allowing a large, strong hand to resume his work as he took a few deep breaths, his dark eyes locking on Baekhyun’s. “You taste so good, Baekhyun… You can come in my throat if you want, you know. I won’t mind.”

If had been more lucid, he might have asked where Chanyeol learned such things, but he was still slightly tipsy and overcome with such pleasure that he hadn’t known in years that he couldn’t be bothered to worry about such trivial matters. And just as he’d had that thought, Chanyeol’s mouth descended on him once more, this time taking him down deep into the wet, warm cavity of his throat. He swallowed and sucked around the hardened flesh, causing Baekhyun to mewl pitifully and writhe on the sheets.

He blinked hard, worrying his bottom lip between his teeth as he watched Chanyeol’s masterful work. His arm that he used to prop himself up was beginning to give way under him and ran his other hand down through Chanyeol’s hair, pushing the messy locks out of the boy’s face so that he could watch him. It was a magnificent sight, and it was all Baekhyun could do to ignore the tightening in his stomach that signaled that he was reaching the edge of his limits.

He didn’t want it to be over, not yet, but there was nothing else he could do. He could feel his release washing over him like a pleasurable wave. Chanyeol stilled, and he felt the wonderful tightening of the man’s throat as he swallowed hard around him, drinking it all in. “Ch-Chanyeol, you really didn’t have to…” he trailed off, trying to find his words, but his arm gave out and he collapsed back onto the bed.

“Finished with me already, or would you like another round?” Chanyeol licked his lips, sliding up Baekhyun’s body to kiss and suck on the pale skin of his neck as he pried his boxers off and tossed them to the ground, not pausing to allow Baekhyun to catch his breath.

“I want to do something for you, too,” Baekhyun insisted through slurred words. “I can take it. I can.” It had been far too long since he had experienced this kind of excitement and passion, and he wasn’t about to let it get away.

Sensing that Baekhyun needed some reprieve, however, Chanyeol avoided touching his hypersensitive cock and stroked the firm expanse of his abdomen while they waited. He nuzzled Baekhyun’s cheek and kissed his lips, allowing Baekhyun to taste himself there before he pulled the smaller boy into his arms, letting Baekhyun collapse into them, pressing his body up against him and pushing his own hand lower to cup and feel the hardness concealed in Chanyeol’s jeans.

“Please, Chanyeol. I want you to fuck me,” he purred against his lips, his legs spreading for the other man invitingly. His own arousal was slowly beginning to come back, and his half-hard cock jutted proudly out, up towards his chest.

Chanyeol could only laugh softly as he wrapped his hand around it once more and began to pump it back to pull attention. He wasn’t used to having multiple orgasms in a single session, even back when things had been good between him and Tae Suk, everything had always been about the other man’s pleasure, and he’d been left to find his own. To have someone care so much about helping him find his release was so unreal to Baekhyun that he found himself drunk off of the attention.

However, as he began to undo Chanyeol’s pants, it became painfully obvious that he was the only one who was completely exposed. He attempted to pull Chanyeol over on top of himself so that he didn’t feel so vulnerable to the cold night air, his nimble fingers going to the large shirt to pull it up over his head so that they could press their naked chests together. Chanyeol took the moment to his advantage and grabbed Baekhyun’s ass, giving it a squeeze as he slid his fingers down along the inner cleft. “Do you have any lube?”

Baekhyun nodded lazily towards the bedside table, and Chanyeol rolled off of him momentarily to grab the small bottle from the drawer, taking it out and squirting it along his fingertips. He used his other hand to push down his pants and boxers, effectively shimmying out of them so that his large, red cock bounced proudly up towards his stomach, thick with blood and free of his constraints. Now, he could lie down, fully naked on top of the other man, covering his smaller, more delicate body with his own.

“Spread your legs wider,” he ordered in a gentle voice. Though Baekhyun already had done so slightly, he hooked his hands around the backs of his knees and hoisted his legs up so that his bottom was completely exposed to Chanyeol. A blush spread across his cheeks as the taller man pulled back to gaze upon the beautiful sight. “I’ll be gentle, I promise,” Baekhyun almost protested that he wasn’t a virgin, but he stopped just as the large fingers began to stroke across the puckered muscle teasingly.

And then he pressed the tips of his middle and index fingers inside, gently, until the resistance gave way and Baekhyun’s body sucked him inside. “You’re so hot and tight, Baekhyun… you’re going to feel amazing around my cock.” This time, the words did make Baekhyun blush, and it didn’t help that Chanyeol’s arm snaked around his waist to pull him into a half hug so that he felt safe and protected rather than like an object on display.

His fingers wiggled in to the first knuckles, and he applied more lube generously so that they slid completely inside. Baekhyun cried out. It had been far too long since he had slept with the man he called his boyfriend. The feeling of Chanyeol’s fingers inside him was wonderful. He loved the way his body contracted around the thick pressure that radiated into his core, loved the way Chanyeol curled his fingers and gently stroked along his inner walls, loved the way his cock dug into his hip and the precome smeared there, letting Baekhyun know just how eager he was for what was to come.

And then it happened. His fingers stroked across the small, walnut-sized bundle of nerves that was sure to bring him pleasure. His hips bucked up, and a satisfied smirk crossed Chanyeol’s face. “Right there, isn’t it?” His other hand wrapped around the base of Baekhyun’s length, and he began to stroke him once more. Baekhyun pressed his face against the crook of Chanyeol’s neck and sobbed softly in pleasure against the skin there.

His hips began to move of their own accord, gyrating down onto Chanyeol’s hand. “Please Chanyeol. I want you inside me now-ah!” this cry was the loudest yet. Chanyeol only smirked and began to rub it with purpose, causing Baekhyun to reel at the sensation while at the same time, his thumb began to roll over and press against the head of his cock.

“How are you so damn beautiful, Baekhyun? Look how eager you are. You want my hard cock pounding you senseless, don’t you?” Chanyeol’s lips crashed against Baekhyun’s, and the smaller boy parted his lips willingly to take him in. “Your tight, little hole is sucking my fingers in. It wants more, doesn’t it?” Baekhyun could only moan as Chanyeol worked a third finger inside. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Chanyeol slowly sliding a condom over his thick cock, and he knew it was almost time.

Chanyeol withdrew his fingers, almost reluctantly, and rolled Baekhyun over so that the man rested on his side. It was an intimate position with the ease of entering him from behind but the intimacy of the face-to-face. “Let me know if it hurts,” Baekhyun might have appreciated those words as a virgin, but as it was, he was impatient and just couldn’t wait for Chanyeol to be inside him.

The taller man kissed the back of his neck apologetically and nosed his cheek, coaxing Baekhyun into kissing him as he aligned his swollen cock to Baekhyun’s entrance and began to push the thick head against the tight ring. Baekhyun’s jaw went slack in a silent scream as he pushed inside. Chanyeol attempted to lessen the pain by comfortingly stroking his abdomen and hip.

“You’re so good, Baekhyun. You feel so fucking good.” Chanyeol couldn’t help but hiss at the tight heat that held his cock with a searing death grip. It was almost painful, but it was nothing compared to what Baekhyun felt. He had involuntarily clenched his body around the man, and he could only wait until his muscles once again relaxed.

“It’s in… it’s all in,” Chanyeol breathed. “See? Fuck, you feel so amazing,” and then he was kissing Baekhyun once more, tongue caressing the inside of his mouth just as his hand returned to Baekhyun’s neglected cock and began to pump him once more. He stilled his hips, and Baekhyun began to relax, accepting him completely inside.

“Ah, Chanyeol,” Baekhyun gasped for air as he pulled out of the kiss. “Please just… just fuck me,” he pleaded tearfully. Chanyeol didn’t need any further permission. He propped himself up on his elbow so that he could watch the way Baekhyun’s face contorted between pain and pleasure, and he used that same hand to reach around and cup Baekhyun’s cheek, forcing the man’s gaze upon him as he began to thrust into him. “Look at me, Baekhyun.”

Baekhyun didn’t just look at Chanyeol. He stared in wonderment as pleasure wracked his body. Chanyeol started with slow, shallow thrusts until he was certain that Baekhyun could handle it, which judging from the way his hips had begun to rock again, he was taking it just well. He pulled out almost completely before slamming back inside with force, taking Baekhyun by surprise and sending a jolt of sharp pain as well as ecstasy through his body. “Your little hole feels so good stretched around me,” with every thrust, the head of his cock rubbed pleasurably against Baekhyun’s prostate. “Tell me how much you love my cock.”

The command had Baekhyun’s wide eye impossibly wider, and he struggled to once again find his voice. “I love your cock. I love it so much. It feels so good it’s so- ahh-“ he bit his lip, moaning helplessly. “S-So good inside me. It fills me up…”

The overload of sensations was beginning to take their toll on poor Baekhyun. Every inch of his body was screaming for release. He looked up into Chanyeol’s eyes, begging him silently for release.

“You don’t have to hold back,” Chanyeol kissed Baekhyun’s neck and sucked on the skin there, leaving a dark, purple mark that stood out against the fading bruises. “I want to see your face when you come for me,” he kissed the corner of his mouth and pulled back to watch him, his hips never pausing in their onslaught.

The bed shook against the wall with the force of Chanyeol’s hips, and so then began Baekhyun. The intensity of his orgasm was overwhelming and evident across every inch of his body. His muscles tensed and a shiver traveled down his spine, and his face contorted slightly as he choked out a loud cry of Chanyeol’s name. He could feel as Chanyeol’s hips stilled and knew that he had found his release as well. He lamented, briefly, that the latex material stood between him and the sensation of being properly filled, but it passed as quickly as they both had come.

They both lied there for a moment, catching their breath. It was Chanyeol who moved first after several long minutes of whispering sweet nothings into Baekhyun’s ear. He pulled out slowly, taking off the condom and tying it in a knot before discarding it in the waste bin. Baekhyun didn’t trust himself to move, so he continued to remain still until Chanyeol returned to him and gathered him into his arms, pulling him fully onto the bed and under the sheets.

“You were amazing, Baekhyun.” Baekhyun felt the ghost of a smile on his lips at the words, but the moment of happiness was beginning to pass. For all of their troubles, for all of their heartache, he had never meant to betray Tae Suk’s trust, and he had never meant for Chanyeol to get caught up in any of this.

His heart ached as the man turned him in his arms so that his face could press against the firm, lanky chest. He braved a glance up, hoping to see some affirmation that he felt guilty as well. After all, Chanyeol had a fiancée to return to whether he loved her or not, but he saw no such emotion. All he saw was the beauty of adoration and kindness staring back at him. He felt sick to his stomach as he was pulled into the sweetest, most chaste kiss. “Thank you.”

He wanted to protest, to tell Chanyeol that none of this was right, that he needed to leave so that they could both end it before someone got hurt, but instead, he found himself nodding along quietly. “Please stay.”

Chanyeol beamed, and Baekhyun felt his heart break.

 

÷

 

Baekhyun tried his best to avoid Chanyeol at all costs. The morning after their little tryst had been the worst yet. Chanyeol had wrapped his arms around him so tenderly and kissed him with the utmost care. When Baekhyun had started crying, he’d become alarmed, and it was all Baekhyun could do to beg him to leave. With his tail tucked between his legs and an all too knowing look, he had re-dressed and left the apartment with the most solemn expression Baekhyun had ever seen of him.

The rest of the day had been spent cleaning the apartment of all things Chanyeol. He’d taken a shower and washed his clothes and the bed sheets, all to try to erase the memories of what had occurred there. Perhaps it wouldn’t be so terrible if Baekhyun actually felt guilty about what he had done, but instead he had enjoyed it, and after a taste of what could have been, he wanted more. But, he couldn’t allow himself to chase after the forbidden fruit. He was too loyal to the commitment he had made to his boyfriend.

In some ways, he thought he had been showing out. For all of Tae Suk’s indiscretions and backroom lovers, Baekhyun had thought he would feel better if he just had a slice of revenge, but he had never wanted to use someone he cared about in his thirst for it, and the more he allowed himself to think about it, the more he began to realize how much he cared for his part-time assistant. Chanyeol may not have been the brightest boy in town, and he may not have been the most handsome, but he had a heart of gold and a knack for making Baekhyun smile.

In the past few months, Baekhyun had smiled more than he had in his entire life. When he was around Chanyeol, it was as if a gigantic weight had been lifted from his shoulders and he could finally see the sun beyond the clouds. He knew that things would always be better as long as they were together.

And that was when he realized--

“I love you.”

Baekhyun heard the words delivered in a silky smooth voice. Coming from it, they seemed somehow insincere and cold despite the half-smirking lips and twinkling eyes. Baekhyun was lying in the very same bed he had consummated his sins with Chanyeol now with the man whom he had vowed to himself to always stand beside. “I love you, too,” Baekhyun winced, wondering if he could even possibly have made his words sound believable with the heavy weight he held in his heart.

His naked body was cold and slick from the sweat still clinging to him, and he itched for another shower to scrub his body clean. For all that he thought was right, he now realized that he had never been so wrong. And yet, seeing Tae Suk smile like he was at him now made him think back to happier times. Things hadn’t always been bad for them, truly. They had once loved each other very deeply if the ring on Baekhyun’s finger was any proof to that.

To be perfectly honest, Baekhyun still didn’t understand where they had went so wrong or what he had done to make his lover continuously angry at him. Up until a night ago, he had never cheated on him, he had never become violent himself, and he had never done anything “wrong” aside from existing, it seemed. Try as he may to think back to something he might have done to warrant the anger often directed at him, he just couldn’t fathom it. Tae Suk was a jealous man, that was true, but even then, Chanyeol was the first man he had ever been remotely threatened by. In some strange cases, he had paraded Baekhyun in front of his foreign friends, humiliating him by making lewd, degrading remarks in front of them and warranting some disgusting nicknames and cat-calling.

Chanyeol was the first man he had ever accused Baekhyun of sleeping with. And now Baekhyun had decided to make his own self-fulfilling prophecy. At least, that was his belief. It was easier than admitting the truth to himself.

A few more minutes of cuddling, another occurrence which had become all too rare in his relationship, Baekhyun was left alone on his side of the bed as Tae Suk rolled over to get some sleep. And so he, too, turned to face the wall, back to the man he had just told that he loved. If he closed his eyes, he could imagine that it was Chanyeol’s weight on the other side of the bed. If he hugged himself, he could tell himself that it was Chanyeol’s strong arms wrapping around him, holding him steady and safe. If he listened closely, the sound of the even breathing belonged to the man he had come to adore.

Tears began to pour freely from his eyes, and he bit back his sobs as he realized the terrifying, yet undeniable truth.

He was in love with Park Chanyeol.

 

÷

 

It had first seemed like this day would never come, and now it seemed like it’d came all too quickly. Chanyeol was working his last shift at the store. There was an unreadable silence between the pair. Baekhyun avoided starting a conversation, despite knowing it would be the last time he’d lay his eyes on the man. Perhaps it was out of guilt or perhaps it was out of selfishness, but Baekhyun was avoiding speaking to him even now.

This fact didn’t seem to particularly bother Chanyeol which, in turn, drove Baekhyun crazy. He knew it was juvenile and immature, but he couldn’t help but hope that Chanyeol would be the first to break the silence. He prayed that things could go back to normal- that Chanyeol would come up behind him, hug him tightly, and rest his chin on his shoulder as he so liked to do. He hoped that Chanyeol would pester him with random facts and incessant questions. He wished that Chanyeol would notice him again.

But wishes, Baekhyun learned, didn’t come true. It was nearly time to close, and Chanyeol was removing his apron and sweeping the floors.

“Thank you…” Baekhyun began to say, but Chanyeol held up his hand and shook his head, offering him a sad smile in return.

“Don’t mention it.”

The dejected tone of his voice only served to further drive the pain deeper into his heart. “Chanyeol, I-“

“It’s okay,” the tall man turned to face him. “I mean it. I understand. You’ll take care of yourself, won’t you?”

Baekhyun knew then that there was no repairing their relationship, no saving a friendship that might have been. Without thinking, he threw himself at Chanyeol, wrapping his arms tightly around his shoulders. “You… you, too.”

Before Chanyeol could reply, a voice interrupted the heavy atmosphere. “What’s this?”

Baekhyun jumped away from Chanyeol as if he’d been burned by fire. “Tae Suk, what are you doing here?”

“What am I doing here? What are you doing with him? I thought you fired him.” Tae Suk narrowed his eyes challengingly at Chanyeol.

“This is his last day…” Baekhyun began, looking to Chanyeol for support. The man seemed to understand, for he nodded.

“It’s true. I was just leaving.”

“Good. Baekhyun can I talk to you for a moment?” Before Baekhyun could reply, he found himself being yanked away from Chanyeol and ushered to the back of the store. He glanced back to see Chanyeol standing there, watching them with an expression that said he wanted to follow, but then he shrank back, as if thinking better of interrupting their moment.

Once outside, the blows began, fists raining down on his small frame, Baekhyun raised his arms weakly to defend himself, but he found that he was just too tired to keep fighting back anymore. “You fucking little liar, you said he was gone! I knew that I couldn’t trust you to be honest with me? What else have you been lying about?!” There was a loud smack, and Baekhyun fell down on his hands and knees. He could feel his lip burning and a warm liquid trickling down his chin from his split lip.

“Please, Tae Suk… We’ve been so happy recently… Please don’t do this,” he stared at the ground, trying to distance himself from the grim reality of his situation.

“Well, if you hadn’t lied to me, I wouldn’t have to do this.”

Baekhyun cried out loudly as his hair was grabbed, and he was pulled back up to his feet. “I told you to fire him! What is he still doing here?!”

“Please, let me go. You’re hurting me,” Baekhyun tried to jerk away but was pulled in closer, the hand around his waist tightening painfully hard.

“Fucking bitch, can’t even do anything right, can you?!” Tae Suk scowled down at him. “Listen to me, and listen to me well. You are mine.” Baekhyun tried to look away, but Tae Suk’s other hand came to grip his jaw, jerking his head so that he was staring up at the man he feared. It must have shown on his face because Tae Suk’s eyes softened, and he sighed. “Oh, Baekhyun… you know how much I hate hurting you, don’t you?”

Baekhyun couldn’t stop from shaking as the grip softened and the hand that had so cruelly hurt him began to gently stroke his face and hair. “I just can’t stand seeing you with someone else. It hurts me, so I hurt you to make you understand, you know that, right?” Baekhyun nodded, feeling a sickening numbness spread throughout his body. “Don’t give me that look.”

Whatever look Baekhyun was giving him, he wasn’t sure, but he didn’t want to incur the man’s wrath once more, so he closed his eyes tightly and rested against him, forehead on his broad chest. They stayed like that for a moment, Tae Suk using his gentle touches to trace every bruise, every battered place on Baekhyun’s body like some sort of a map. He knew exactly where every blow had landed, where it hurt most.

“Don’t test me, Baekhyun,” his voice came again, lower, more dangerously than before. “If I find out you slept with him, you’re as good as dead.”

The words made Baekhyun’s blood run cold, and he choked, just as Tae Suk pulled him into the roughest, most dominating kiss. It felt as if the man was trying to suck his soul out through his throat. His mouth tasted metallic, and it lacked the warmth it once had. As he pulled away, Baekhyun dropped to his knees, and Tae Suk didn’t spare him a second glance. He turned and left him there.

Baekhyun must have been out there longer than he thought, for the next thing he knew, the door had opened and a very different sound of foot-falls was approaching him. If he’d had the energy, the drive, he would have spared him a glance, but everything in his world had fallen apart. Chanyeol was leaving him, Tae Suk was going to kill him, and he had no one to turn to for help. Tears flowed freely from his eyes, and, as strong, supportive arms wrapped around him, he began to sob freely.

 

÷

 

“Baekhyun… I had no idea,” Chanyeol stared at the boy as he wrapped him in a towel. They had moved into the flower shop, though it was really Chanyeol who had helped him to his feet and taken him inside. He pressed a cold bag of ice to his face and wiped the tears from his eyes which were red and swollen from all of the crying. “I mean, maybe I did… I suspected something. I just didn’t think-“

Baekhyun reached up, grabbing Chanyeol’s wrist to stop him and taking the bad of ice from him, offering him the smallest hint of a smile. “It’s not your fault. I didn’t want anyone to know,” Chanyeol looked down at him, the words apparently not providing him with much comfort, for he sighed in frustration and pulled away.

The sound of silence was deafening. Baekhyun felt even worse, seeing Chanyeol like this. And so he said the only thing that he could think of in the situation. “I’m sorry.”

“No. Don’t apologize,” the words sounded like venom coming from the man. “Don’t you fucking dare apologize, Baekhyun. This isn’t your fault. This is that goddamn asshole’s fault for hurting you like this. You don’t have anything for which you need to apologize.”

Baekhyun winced at the harshness of the words, but he could feel the affection behind them. They weren’t cold or insincere or false in their delivery. They didn’t make him cower in fear. Chanyeol turned to him once more and pulled him into his arms. “I’m the one who’s sorry. I didn’t see how much you were suffering. I knew that something wasn’t right. I knew it, but I couldn’t justify asking you. I couldn’t figure out why everything seemed so… wrong,” he finished. “Please forgive me for ignoring you.”

He pulled Baekhyun into his arms again, and the smaller boy relaxed. He was tired, so tired, and Chanyeol was there, holding him and allowing him a moment of rest before he responded. “You came back… didn’t you?”

Chanyeol’s eyes widened slightly. “Huh?”

“You came back. You were getting ready to leave, but something stopped you, right…? Th-there’s nothing to forgive you for,” Baekhyun’s voice shook, and he didn’t trust himself not to break down again right then and there. “You are here now. That means everything to me, Chanyeol. You don’t understand how sc-scared I was…” and then the tears started anew. His eyes burned with each fresh, new wave, and he sobbed loudly. “I was so scared I’d never see you again, that you’d leave me here, that I wouldn’t be able to tell you everything.”

“Shh, shh!” Chanyeol stroked his hair. “Oh god, Baekhyun. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I won’t leave you. I promise I won’t leave you.”

Baekhyun couldn’t stop crying now that he’d started. His stomach twisted and he gagged on his own spit. His cheeks were rosy and wet from the sobs, and his chest heaved unpleasantly. Chanyeol left his side only once, and that was to fetch him a glass of water to try to keep him hydrated and calm him down.

It seemed like forever, but Baekhyun’s panic slowly began to subside.

“Chanyeol, what am I going to do..?”

“You can’t stay with him anymore. You know that, right?” Chanyeol said grimly. “You should have already left him by now.”

“I don’t have anywhere else to go,” Baekhyun looked up at him. “My parents disowned me when I was in high school after I started dating him. They wouldn’t have ‘have a faggot for a son’,” he frowned. “And I… I don’t have any friends. The flower shop is my life,” he avoided saying that Tae Suk had pushed a lot of his friends away, but he assumed Chanyeol would understand. “And it’s not like it makes me enough money to afford rent on my own…”

Chanyeol nodded. “Okay, then I’ll help. I have a friend… he has a few guestrooms. I’m sure he won’t mind you staying with him for a little while. He owes me, anyways.”

“Chanyeol, I can’t-“

“You can’t stay here, can you?” Chanyeol watched him with an even gaze, and Baekhyun knew he was right. He couldn’t stay there any longer.

“Alright…” Baekhyun relented. He couldn’t even bring it in him to put up that much of a fuss about it. This was his only chance out, and he had to take it.

“Let’s go get your things. I’ll call him right now,” Chanyeol pulled out his phone.

“N-No!”

Chanyeol glanced up, furrowing his eyebrows. “No?”

“If you go and he’s there, it’ll only make things worse. Let me go… I’ll meet up with you later. Just… text me the address, and I’ll give it to the cab driver.”

Chanyeol looked like he wanted to protest, but he sighed in agreement. “I hope you know what you’re doing.”

 

÷

 

In truth, Baekhyun did want Chanyeol there for support, but he did not want another reason to anger Tae Suk. He already thought that Baekhyun was cheating on him with Chanyeol, and after his lapse in judgment that one night not so long ago, it was technically true, at least in that moment. However, he hoped to go to their apartment, get his things, and leave before Tae Suk even came home. A hand-written note was already prepared so that he would not have to face him in person. It was safer this way for everyone involved.

Upon arriving at the apartment, everything appeared to be in order. Tae Suk had not been back after leaving the flower shop in a rage earlier that day, but Baekhyun knew that his absence was too good to last which was why he was in such a hurry. Just because the man had been gone for some time didn’t mean that he had abandoned his home completely. His clothes, his hygiene products, and his electronics were all still there- that, and the apartment was in Tae Suk’s name. Baekhyun had no grounds to call it his own.

Moving quickly, Baekhyun headed into the bedroom to pack up his few belongings. Really, all he had to take with him were some clothes that he could live in. He didn’t have much to his name. There weren’t any money or jewels hidden away and no family heirlooms seeing as he’d been kicked out of his home by his parents for his sexuality. There was nothing he could say that he really needed except the basic survival necessities, and what little money he did have was tucked away at the bank, so it didn’t require physical removal.

Though, truthfully, he did have to break into Tae Suk’s briefcase with a butcher knife in order to retrieve his debit card. The control over his money had been how it had all started. Tae Suk had called him immature for spending his hard-earned cash on a new bag and had told Baekhyun that he would ‘hang onto it’ for him until he was ‘ready’ to be responsible. That day never came.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

Baekhyun was snapped back into the present by a large hand grabbing a fistful of his hair roughly, yanking him up from his kneeling position beside the bed. He quickly shoved the card into his pocket before he was thrown down and collided with the wall, the impact of his head against the hard material making him see stars. “Y-you’re back,” he breathed, pushing himself up only to receive a rough kick to his chest, the blow hitting a particularly nasty bruise left from earlier in the day.

“This is my house,” there was no longer any warmth in Tae Suk’s eyes. Once, before all of this, he had tried to pretend to care for Baekhyun. The smaller man could still remember a time when things weren’t this bad, but now he knew as he stared up into the cold, black, darkness of his expression that those times were gone never to come back, and living in the past would only mean that he would die there as well. “What? Not happy to see me?” he sneered.

Finally, Baekhyun pushed himself up to his feet, trying to ignore the pounding in his ears. “It’s alright,” he managed to keep his breathing even and calm. “You won’t have to deal with me any longer, Tae Suk. I’m leaving,” the words that came out of his mouth surprised him with their firmness and honesty. Never before had he thought he would have the courage to confront his boyfriend- the man he’d once loved- and tell him that it was over.

Tae Suk, too, must have been surprised, for the look on his face was one of wide eyes and bewilderment. “What?”

Baekhyun inched towards the door at the tone of his voice. He could hear the infliction of rage as it began to dawn on him exactly what the boy was saying.

“You fucking bitch. You’re leaving me?!” His voice was raised, and before he could lunge at him again, Baekhyun ran. He scrambled over himself, trying to force his legs to work, but they didn’t seem to want to move properly. He grabbed his suitcase by the door, and just as he’d opened it, he was pressed against it so hard that the door slammed shut and the wind was knocked out of him. He could feel the sickening crunch in his chest as his ribs cracked from the pressure.

His cheek throbbed from the impact, but he was given no reprieve. He was slammed against the door again. “It’s him isn’t it?! Isn’t it?!” Tae Suk was screaming so loudly now that Baekhyun prayed that their neighbors would call the cops. Even if the man somehow got out of this, at least he would be taken to a safe place, somewhere that hopefully Tae Suk would never find him again.

“I-It’s not. Tae Suk, please. Let me go,” he choked out, his eyes shutting tightly as tears began to fall from the corners of his eyes.

“Don’t lie to me! I know he fucked you!”

Baekhyun cried out as his arm was twisted behind his back, and a soundless scream fell from his lips as it was jerked harshly upwards with another crunch to follow. White, hot pain flowed through his arm. All he could do was gasp and shake his head, silently begging Tae Suk to finish his assault quickly so that he could leave.

“You aren’t even denying it,” Tae Suk snarled and, finally pulled back. Baekhyun sobbed as he reached for the suitcase again. Every bone in his body ached, even though his adrenaline was pumping through his veins wildly. “Fucking whore. I won’t let you disgrace me like this.” There was a deafening silence as the larger man moved to take Baekhyun’s hand with a gentle calmness that was by far more dangerous than any of his outbursts thus far. “No one is going to miss you. Not even him.”

Baekhyun screamed and fell backwards, trying his best to jerk away, but was quickly silenced as he was knocked upside the head with a nearby porcelain lamp. His vision blurred- all he could see was stars. He could hear the sound of the vase shattering as it connected with the hardwood flooring. He groaned and tried to push his body up to crawl away, though he could not see where he was going, but a sharp stab of pain in his hand had him immediately recoiling back. A sharp piece of the lamp embedded deep in his hand, and blood gushed freely from the wound.

“Tae Suk! Please! Please stop!” he pleaded, turning to block another blow with his forearm which caused him to fall back on the sharp pieces. He could feel them digging in mercilessly into his soft flesh and breaking the skin there. “You’re going to kill me!” he screamed at the man, but the pain did not stop.

He was jerked up by the collar of his shirt and lifted so that he was face to face with the man. “Yes. That’s exactly what I’m going to do,” he said in such a serious tone that Baekhyun knew that he was not exaggerating.

He was going to kill him.

Baekhyun sobbed out and tried to wrench himself away, kicking and screaming until he felt something sharp and tight wrap around his neck. He felt a sickening crack in his neck, and then he couldn’t breathe. He clawed and struggled despite the last of his strength beginning to leave him.

The coil of the lamp began to dig into his neck, drawing blood to the surface as it cut into the tender skin. Tears poured down his cheeks as he mouthed to Tae Suk, begging for his life to be spared. But, it was futile, the wire continued to dig in deeper until Baekhyun’s body began to seize and thrash with the desperation for air. His lungs contracted painfully in his ribcage and he felt sick to his stomach. Blood rushed into his ears, and his head pounded to the loud rhythm of his heart.

His vision began to blur once more, and then everything was over. His muscles slowly began to relax as he began to fade.

He had always imagined dying to be a peaceful affair, something that would happen to him naturally as he got older and had time to accept his impending fate. But this- this was not fate, and he found himself terribly afraid. All he wanted was to live. He may not have had much to live for- his flower shop didn’t make much money, the man he’d spent his entire adolescence with hated him enough to end his life, and the man he loved was marrying someone else. He had no friends, he was all alone, and yet he wanted to live, to fight for another day to make it better than the last.

The grip he had on Tae Suk’s hands began to relax, and he slumped back, eyes closed. Just as he did, he fell to the ground with a resounding thud, and then there was a sickening crack. Baekhyun felt Tae Suk’s weight lift off from his body, the coil unraveling. His lungs expanded powerfully, forcing oxygen deep inside at a painful rate. He sputtered and choked as he heaved and emptied the contents of his stomach onto the floor.

His vision began to fade back into view. He would have spoken, but his voice was gone, and he touched the front of his throat only to find a sticky wetness there. When he pulled back, he saw that the tips of his fingers were coated a dark red with his own blood. He would have groaned, but even that hurt.

He just began to try to push himself up, but he was far too dizzy, and the oxygen hadn’t yet seemed to return to his arms and legs, leaving him completely uncoordinated.

“You stay the fuck away from him!” a voice rang in his ears, pushing past the rushing of blood that consumed his thoughts. “Or I promise that you will never see the light of day again! Do you hear me, you fucking piece of shit!?”

Baekhyun knew that voice.

He glanced up only to see Chanyeol standing there over Tae Suk’s broken frame. Blood gushed from a wound on his head and marks on his arms where he had obviously attempted to defend himself. Baekhyun had never seen the man cower before, but there he was, curled back and snarling at Chanyeol like some kind of caged animal. Before he could agree to any terms, Chanyeol used the paperweight in his hand and brought it crashing down on the back of his neck.

Baekhyun covered his mouth with his hands in a silent scream. He felt like he would be sick again. Chanyeol turned to face him, breathing heavily. There was nothing left to say. He grabbed the long-forgotten suitcase and Baekhyun’s wrist, trying to pull him along until the smaller boy let out a broken, whispered cry that had Chanyeol watching him with an alarmed expression. That was when they both realized that the wrist was twisted in an unnatural position.

Chanyeol cursed under his breath and gently helped Baekhyun up, hurrying him down the hall of his small apartment complex while trying to avoid too much unwanted attention from the neighbors. Some of them poked their heads out of the doors, others stayed inside with their windows and doors shut, but though Chanyeol seemed to be aware of them, Baekhyun could barely see the floor in front of him. He could only let Chanyeol help him along.

And when they got in the car, Baekhyun found that the sleep that had evaded him at Tae Suk’s hands was slowly taking over him. The last thing he heard was Chanyeol’s screams fading into the distance. “Baekhyun! Baekhyun, wake up!”

÷

 

It had been just over a week since the incident. Tae Suk had been arrested on assault and battery charges. Because Seoul did not recognize their romantic relationship, there was no chance of filing for domestic abuse. Chanyeol had only been let off on his charges because of Baekhyun’s testimony as well as his father who had surprisingly come to his son’s defense. Granted, Baekhyun didn’t think that Chanyeol’s father understood that his son had been romantically linked with Baekhyun. If he had, then the story may have turned out very differently.

After his stint in the hospital, Baekhyun had been faced with the fact that he had nowhere to go and no one to whom to turn. Chanyeol couldn’t afford to let him stay with him, and Baekhyun understood.

Despite the fact the man had saved his life, it didn’t change anything between them. He was still to take a seat at the head of his father’s company, and he couldn’t allow any rumors of his romantic relations with another man to circulate.

However, that didn’t mean that he had left Baekhyun out in the cold. A kind man by the name of Kim Joonmyun, a former classmate of Chanyeol’s, had offered to let Baekhyun stay with him in his apartment. While he had never met the man before, and he wasn’t entirely sure he trusted him, it was better than the alternative of being alone on the streets, and so he accepted. Chanyeol arranged for him to be taken there by taxi, and when he arrived, he was immediately greeted by a man no taller than himself with the kindest eyes he had ever seen.

Joonmyun hadn’t just agreed to give Baekhyun a comfortable place to rest, he took to actively taking care of him. He fluffed his pillows, brought him food, and made sure he was given books to read and adequate television programming to keep him entertained. It had taken no time at all for Baekhyun to warm up to him which was a feat in itself considering how wary Baekhyun had always been of people and how paranoid he was now.

The week had been spent in absolute silence as Baekhyun’s voice began to return to him, but by the second week, he was able to hold small conversations though his voice broke and shook when he spoke. “You don’t have to do this,” he had told the man as he came from his tray of food in the evening. “It’s enough that you let me stay here.”

Joonmyun just shook his head with that same gentle smile on his face. “It’s no trouble, really. I just want to make sure that you get better. You are a very important person to Chanyeol.”

Before he could ask what he meant by that, the man had already left the room, and he pushed the thought from his mind for fear that dwelling on it would make him wish for the impossible to happen.

The next few weeks were spent regaining his strength. By the third week, he was up and moving around in the apartment, helping out with simple chores. Joonmyun tried to keep an eye on him to make sure that he didn’t overexert himself and reopen the deeper wounds.

Chanyeol visited often, always coming by with some of Baekhyun’s favorite dark chocolates or some bubble tea from the little cafe near his flower shop. The flower shop was the only thing Baekhyun could say that he truly missed, but he was in no condition to return with the shape he was in. Chanyeol promised him that it was still in good hands. He had made the monthly rent deposit and closed everything up with a small notice sign so that there would be no confusion as to why the shop was not opening. Baekhyun promised him that he would pay him back for everything- him and Joonmyun both- as soon as he got back on his feet, but both assured him not to worry himself over it.

“Truth be told, I have more money than royalty,” Joonmyun had said offhandedly during one of their brief arguments when Baekhyun insisted that he could not blindly accept their charity. Baekhyun opened his mouth to say something, but Chanyeol shook his head.

“No, he’s telling the truth.”

The conversation had made Baekhyun seriously wonder who it was he was dealing with, but Joonmyun had smiled mysteriously and told him that it was better he didn’t know, and Chanyeol had agreed that it was better for all of them if they didn’t discuss Joonmyun’s heritage.

Later, he would come to find out that Joonmyun’s family was involved in many secret dealings that took place in the depths of Seoul’s government, but that was another story for another time. All he needed to know about Joonmyun at the moment was how kind and compassionate he was towards someone he hardly knew.

It was as if he had found the brother he’d never had in the older boy, and he found himself lamenting the fact that he would eventually be leaving the home and returning a life of solitude. In truth, it wouldn’t be horribly different from when he was staying with Tae Suk only he would no longer have to fear a beating should he stay out too late or speak out of turn.

He had never known how deeply in fear he had been living until he had been pulled out of it.

 

÷

 

More months passed, and Baekhyun was still in the care of Kim Joonmyun which, in itself, was a blessing. He had tried, several times, to move out on his own, but each time he came back to the fact he didn’t have the money, and he hadn’t had the time to save any extra cash due to being unable to work.

Chanyeol was continuing to pay the rent on his store’s lease which had been a wonderful gesture at first, but no Baekhyun couldn’t help but feel sick to his stomach with all of the debt he owed. No matter how many times he was told it was being given to him, time with Tae Suk had taught him that nothing came without a cost.

Today marked his first day back at the lonesome shop. It was dusty and many of the flowers had wilted. He immediately began to take inventory and place orders for the things he would need to clean up. So many beautiful flowers had wilted in his absence that it pained his heart and brought tears to his eyes.

For many people, they were just flowers, but to Baekhyun, they were so much more than that. He had an affinity to them- a way of speaking to them so that they would flourish and grow under his touch. It was his talent, one he carried with great pride. No flower had ever died under his touch until now. With every pot he cleaned out, with every dried stem that hit the bottom of the bucket, Baekhyun felt a little piece of his soul tossed out with it. His chest physically hurt, and he had to stop, taking a seat behind the counter as he buried his face into his well-manicured hands and heaved a small sob.

Every doubt he had ever had about himself began to surface in the cruelest of ways. If he had just left his boyfriend- his ex-boyfriend- sooner, he would have saved his shop, if he had never fallen in love the first time, he would still have his family. If he had just done things differently, he wouldn’t be suffering as he was now.

His head hung, his eyes downcast, Baekhyun sat at the dimly lit table, staring down at the dried stem of what had once been a beautiful water lily. He had bought it as a small seedling from a girl trying to raise money for some school trip. No one else had seen its potential but him- her other flowers had been in full bloom, gorgeous and vibrant, but he had gone for the wilting water lily, taking it back to his shop and carefully nursing it to health. It was his flower, one that he never intended to sell or use in any of his designs. Now, he’d forgotten all about it, and now it was gone.

“Baekhyun?”

Baekhyun’s head snapped up, and he coughed in surprise. His fingers busied themselves in rubbing at his red, tear-stained eyes. “Chanyeol, what are you doing here?” he said, feigning annoyance to cover up his own embarrassment. Even after everything they had been through, Baekhyun couldn’t expect Chanyeol to understand why he was crying over flowers.

“I came to see if you needed any help. I’m really sorry…” he stopped a few feet from where Baekhyun sat and watched him hesitantly.

“Sorry for what? This isn’t your fault,” Baekhyun gave a short laugh.

“You hired me, and I let you down. I tried to take care of them. I did,” Chanyeol insisted. “But the flowers, they don’t respond to me like they do to you. You said it yourself, I kill them just by looking at them.”

The words made Baekhyun want to smile with the truth they carried. Early on, he had discovered that Chanyeol was terrible at caring for plants. He could do everything Baekhyun told him to do, and it would still wilt under his touch. It would have been funny if it hadn’t been so painstakingly obvious by all of the dead flowers with which he was now surrounded.

“I did manage to save one of them,” Chanyeol spoke again after a moment of silence. “I know it doesn’t matter much in the grand scheme of things, but-“

He didn’t have a chance to complete his sentence. Baekhyun had already stood up and was moving over to him, quickly reaching out to take the small pot from him. His eyes were wide in surprise with what he saw. There, springing up from the soil was a vibrant green stem, and at the end of the stem was a tiny blossom- a beautiful, vibrant red rosebud smiling up at him.

“Chanyeol, this is…” he braved a look up at him, finding an unreadable expression on his face. “Thank you. This means so much to me,” if he hadn’t exhausted all of his tears on his self-pity, he would have begun crying tears of joy in that moment.

“I want you to be happy, Baekhyun.” A large, firm hand clasped his frail shoulder, as the other extended so that Baekhyun could take the pot gingerly from him. The smaller boy held it carefully in both of his hands, but his eyes didn’t move from watching the man who had just brought him one of the greatest gifts for which he could have asked.

“Don’t worry about me,” Baekhyun shook his head. “I am happy. I still have my shop- it can use some work, but it’s not all lost,” he put on a brave face. “I have Joonmyun giving me a place to stay until I can afford the down-payment on an apartment. I have…” he stopped as he almost said ‘you’ before he realized that it wouldn’t be entirely true. He thought back to the day, so many months before, when he had overheard Chanyeol speaking with his wife-to-be about his work at the shop.

“You have me,” Chanyeol finished for him.

But rather than the comfort Chanyeol likely hoped that his words would bring, there was only coldness, an ice that propelled Baekhyun back so that he wouldn’t be burned from its touch. He shirked away from the hand that gripped his shoulder and retreated behind the counter.

“Thank you… really…” Baekhyun began, choosing his words carefully, putting up the same polite front he had the first day Chanyeol had met him. “I do appreciate everything you’ve done for me. But this is where it ends, isn’t it?” Despite Chanyeol’s words to him that day, speaking of the fact he’d never leave, Baekhyun couldn’t believe it to be true. He still had his duties in the world to perform.

Chanyeol’s eyebrows knitted together in confusion. “Baekhyun, I don’t understand-“

“-Please,” Baekhyun begged him before realizing how desperate he sounded. If he was to do this right, then he couldn’t let Chanyeol know how much this was affecting him, too. “It’s better this way, isn’t it? For both of us.”

“Of course it’s not,” Chanyeol stepped forward again, and Baekhyun shrank back, intimidated by his presence. It wasn’t a fear that he felt when Tae Suk was near, a fear of being physically hurt and cornered. It was much worse than that- a suffocating fear of being emotionally destroyed by the one man who was holding him together by the thinnest of threads. If Chanyeol would only leave now, it would be easier. Baekhyun could pretend that everything was returning to the way that it should be, that Chanyeol had served his purpose in his life by saving it.

“Yes, it is. You have helped me in more ways than you can possibly image, but I believe that I am beyond your help now. I can live happily like this…” Chanyeol was standing beside him now, and Baekhyun had nowhere else to run. “Chanyeol, I’m begging you,” he said hoarsely as those same, broad hands came to cup his soft cheeks. “I can’t take this. I can’t-“

Thin, chapped lips met his own in a beautiful moment of passion. The kiss was light and chaste, nothing like what he had experienced from that night in the bar. The pad of Chanyeol’s thumb gently rolled over the crest of his cheekbone, wiping away the tears that were pooling there as Baekhyun’s final defenses crumbled and he succumbed to the man he had grown to cherish and love.

“Please,” Baekhyun whispered hoarsely as Chanyeol pulled back. “I’m scared…”

“You don’t have to be scared anymore. I’m right here with you. Remember?”

“But what about your-“

“I’ll take care of it. Okay? I’m not going anywhere. I want to be with you. I love you.”

And as Chanyeol pulled him in for another kiss, Baekhyun realized that the tears wetting his cheeks weren’t just his own.

 

÷

 

As expected, Chanyeol’s family had not taken the news well that he had broken off his engagement. Baekhyun had not been allowed to stand by his side as he delivered the news, seeing as he was not directly involved in any of their lives, and Chanyeol had thought it was best that he not be dragged into it in the event there was backlash. Baekhyun had been through too much pain and suffering this past year for Chanyeol to want to add more to it when it could be helped- and backlash, there was.

It was difficult to get approved for a loan to make the down-payment on an apartment due to the banks freezing when they found out who Chanyeol was. Sometimes, when they went out at night, Chanyeol said that he could tell that they were being followed, making it impossible for them to have even the slightest bit of freedom. Scathing voice-mails and letters were sent until Joonmyun intervened, throwing his own prestige around to get the harassment to cease.

Chanyeol had moved in to Joonmyun’s place as well. The man seemed rather happy to have the couple around, and Baekhyun had grown to realize through their interactions that he probably was. Joonmyun was a very lonely man, one who had lost his great love in high school when the girl had moved back to her homeland in China. His friends consisted of Chanyeol and now Baekhyun, which Baekhyun thought as strange until Chanyeol explained that their other friends from high school had all but dropped contact with them or tried to use them for monetary and societal gain as soon as their identities were discovered. It was with this knowledge that Baekhyun began to open up to Joonmyun more, no longer feeling the awkwardness of owing him something. He realized that Joonmyun didn’t need his money in return; he needed his friendship.

Everything was beginning to calm now that the weeks dragged on into months once more. Baekhyun was slowly beginning to get back on his feet, but he could not afford to pay Chanyeol for his help in the flower shop. Even so, after work, Chanyeol would drop by to help him clean up and put away stock for the day. He’d bring him coffee in the morning on his way to work as he used to do and hug him as he whispered words of encouragement into his hair. And each day, Baekhyun felt a little more confident, a little more resolution in his series of unfortunate events.

Today, Chanyeol had the day off, and despite Baekhyun’s insistence that he go back to Joonmyun’s and get some rest, the man was there, helping him stock the new vases that had come in. Of course, Chanyeol’s version of helping was almost dropping the most expensive item, causing Baekhyun to nearly have a heart attack. Not to mention the way he stumbled over his too long legs, his apron becoming caked in dirt as it spilled from the pot back onto his body. But, the smile he wore on his face was enough to make Baekhyun’s otherwise dull and tiring day all the worthwhile.

The bell to the front door rang clearly, cutting through the momentary silence, and a set of footfalls could be heard, heels clicking in clear, brisk steps.

“I’ve got it. You clean up,” Baekhyun told Chanyeol who was in no state to greet a customer seeing that he was now covered in dirt. Before Chanyeol could protest, Baekhyun gave him a nudge towards the washroom and made his way around the front desk to greet the woman.

“Welcome to B. Blossom,” he gave a short bow. “I’m the owner, Byun Baekhyun. How may I help you-“ he froze in his words as he stared up at one of the two people he hoped never to see again.

“You!”

Baekhyun took a step back immediately as the woman advanced on him. “Ah, Miss Bae, so good to see you again…” the words came out far more sincere than he thought they would, seeing as he didn’t think he’d be able to even attempt to feign politeness.

“You… you… bitch!” she screamed. Baekhyun wondered just how many times he’d be called that word- it had already lost all meaning to him. “How dare you embarrass me like this!? Do you even know who I am?!” her voice was so loud that there was no way Chanyeol could not avoid hearing her which meant Baekhyun would be able to save some face.

Chanyeol had already come to his aid twice in his battles, and he refused to rely on his knight in shining armor a third time when he knew very well he had the strength to handle it himself.

“Yes, you are Bae Hyoyun of the Bae Corporation,” Baekhyun’s head snapped to the side as he was smacked and he had a fleeting thought at how little it hurt compared to everything he had been through. “Well, at least one of us still has manners,” he rubbed his jaw as he turned to face the seething girl.

“This… This is all your fault. My Chanyeollie and I were happy together before you interfered. I don’t know what you did to him, but you should know that-“

“I didn’t do anything to him,” Baekhyun interrupted, feeling confident to stand up for himself in his own battles now. “If you recall, he was the one who volunteered to work with me to pay for all of the flowers you ruined. If anything, it is your own fault for chasing him away,” he couldn’t help but take some sick satisfaction at her gaping stare. “It may be hard for you to believe, but I didn’t cast some sort of magical spell on him or actively pursue him. And yet, here we are, happy together.”

The woman, Hyoyun, regained her composure slowly, her eyes narrowing into tiny slits as she stared the man in front of her down. “You won’t win him. He’s mine.”

“He belongs to no one. He can be with whoever he wishes,” Baekhyun said with the sweetest smile he could. “Unfortunately, that person isn’t you.”

She looked as if she had been slapped which was all too well for Baekhyun seeing as she had physically hit him. “Now, I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask you to leave. You’ve already destroyed my flowers once, you’ve physically assaulted me, and you’re harassing my worker. If I see you again, I will call Mr. Kim Joonmyun and let him know what you’ve been up to.”

The threat of police may have been useless against such a powerful family, but at the mention of a name that carried more weight than her own, she paled, and Baekhyun knew he had her cornered. “Don’t worry. You’ll recover and find a man just as shallow as you are. It’s better this way,” Baekhyun escorted her out and practically closed the door on her as he did.

“Baekhyun?”

The man froze at the voice. He turned to see a smiling Chanyeol staring back at him. “You did that… for me?”

“It wasn’t much,” Baekhyun insisted haughtily. “Don’t make this isn’t a bigger deal than it really is, okay? I don’t need you blubbering all over me.”

Before he could further protest, Chanyeol’s long arms wrapped around his small frame and pulled him into a tight hug. “It means a lot to me that you would stand up for me, though. I mean, I was worried that she would come here and that I would have to…”

Baekhyun snorted. “Idiot,” he rubbed his lover’s back comfortingly, but even he couldn’t stop the smile that was slowly overcoming his expression. Things were back to normal. “Come on, we still have a lot to finish before we can go home,” even though he was protesting the affection, the truth was that he enjoyed it- perhaps a little too much. Seeing Chanyeol stare at him with those large brown eyes made him want to push him against the desk and kiss him, and he couldn’t allow himself to get that far off track from his work.

“Awee, I’m hungry! Can’t we take a lunch break?” Chaneyol grabbed Baekhyun from behind around the waist as they reached the florist’s workdesk. Before he could respond, those plump, kissable lips were starting to plant small kisses down his neck.

“Ya!” Baekhyun swatted Chanyeol’s roaming hands with a rolled up newspaper.

 

÷

 

The time had finally come. Baekhyun and Chanyeol had recently begun speaking of moving out together rather than separately. Chanyeol said that he didn’t like the idea of Baekhyun all alone, and Baekhyun didn’t like the idea of not being with Chanyeol. Living in the same place together, even if they had only just started sharing a room, had spoiled Baekhyun a bit, and he was no longer content to just see him when he came by the flower shop.

Joonmyun had been sad at first, sadder than Baekhyun had expected. He’d tried to give them reasons to stay, and he’d tried to reason that it simply wasn’t economical for them. He’d been so persuasive that Baekhyun had almost changed his mind, and he might have if not for Chanyeol’s resolve that they needed to find a place to truly call their own. And so he left the apartment hunting up to him. Baekhyun hadn’t chosen the first place he’d lived, it had belonged to the man whose name he dared not speak, and he didn’t feel qualified to choose the next place, either.

Chanyeol involved him, which was more than he could say for his past experience. He showed him the pictures and arranged viewings that they both could attend, and then they would talk together about what they liked or didn’t like. The first apartment they’d both really liked, someone else had made the deposit before they had the chance, and after that, it seemed to be one after the other that they couldn’t agree on. It was more frustrating than Baekhyun remembered, but it was only because he actually had to go through the heartache of actually wanting a property this time.

“I’ll go make us some hot chocolate,” Baekhyun rubbed his eyes sleepily as he tore them away from Chanyeol’s computer. They had been staring at apartments all evening, trying to find something within their price range that was actually attractive. Chanyeol seemed to be pickier than Baekhyun, but he had been used to living in the luxuries they currently experienced. Even Baekhyun had to admit that he wished they could afford something as beautiful as Joonmyun’s place, though he thought that he might enjoy something just a little more homely for his own peace of mind.

“Okay, I’m going to e-mail them about this one, then,” Chanyeol adjusted his glasses before clicking on the link that would open the site up for him to type the letter

“Alright,” It was funny, but Baekhyun had never known that he had to wear glasses to read until they started to live together, and he supposed that it was a scary thing, even now, to know that he was moving in with Chanyeol and there were things he still didn’t know about him. They were still learning each other’s likes, dislikes, little habits, and small quirks. But Baekhyun wasn’t going to let that scare him off as many people would, for he realized that even if he got annoyed with him, even if he got angry with him, he still loved him at the end of the day, and there was no one else he’d rather come home to.

Rounding into the kitchen, he half-expected to see Joonmyun sitting at the table with his tablet and some tea, but instead he saw a shirtless, bronze-skinned boy busily brewing a kettle with a look of pure concentration.

“Excuse me…” Baekhyun began, but though his voice was soft, it wasn’t enough to keep the young man from being startled. “I’m sorry,” he apologized.

“Oh, uhh… you must be one of the roommates,” the boy said sheepishly, eyes cast down. He looked like he thought to cover himself, but then thought better of it and allowed his arms to dangle at his sides awkwardly.

“I guess?” Baekhyun decided that staring was not the most polite thing in the world, no matter how inhumanly attractive the guy was. He busied himself by going to the cabinets to get the cocoa and sugar and mixing the powder himself. He never did like the pre-packaged stuff. Before he could continue polite, though possible strained conversation with the stranger, an equally disheveled Joonmyun appeared in the doorway.  
“Jongin, do you need help finding the teacups-“ he stopped when he saw Baekhyun giving him a knowing look, and he couldn’t help but grin sheepishly. “Oh, Baekhyun, I thought you and Chanyeol would be asleep by now.”

“Apparently,” Baekhyun grinned despite himself while Jongin stood there, looking curiously between the two of them.

“Ah ha ha ha,” Joonmyun rubbed the back of his neck before regaining his composure. “Umm, right. Baekhyun, this is Jongin. I told you about my new intern at the company, didn’t I?”

“You told him about me?”

Joonmyun was smiling brighter than Baekhyun had ever seen him smile. “How could I not?”

“Ugh, gag me,” Baekhyun rolled his eyes. “You’re fucking your employee, Joonmyun. Really?”

“Oh, that’s low, coming from you especially,” there was no malice in his voice.

Baekhyun choked, and Joonmyun laughed. Jongin, for his part, just folded his arms and pouted a bit. “Well, at least Chanyeol isn’t still in high school,” he retorted when he could find the proper comeback which felt like ages in his jumbled mind but was in reality only seconds.

“Hey, mister! For your information, I just graduated!”

Despite his indignation and the fact he’d called Baekhyun “mister”, Baekhyun couldn’t help but find it funny that the boy was just as young as he looked. Joonmyun had several good years on him. He’d never really pegged Joonmyun as the type to go for such young men, but the more he thought about it, the more it made sense.

“You act like a grandpa, so it makes sense he wants someone young to “keep him young”.” Baekhyun teased a bit.

“Don’t listen to him,” Joonmyun told Jongin. “I’m just as young as the day I finished high school.”

“Such a grandpa thing to say,” a new voice added to the mixture could only mean that Chanyeol had pulled himself out of bed to find out what was taking Baekhyun so long. “Hey, I’m Chanyeol,” he greeted Jongin with a playful grin.

Apparently another stranger added to the mixture was enough to send the boy’s face buried in his hands in embarrassment. “Joonmyun, you said that no one would be here!”

“Woah, woah, woah,” Chanyeol had the same alarmed expression on his face he carried when he knew he’d gone too far when teasing Baekhyun. “I’m sorry. Didn’t mean to embarrass you… it’s just not every day that our Joonmyun brings someone home. To be honest, I don’t know of the last time he did.”

Joonmyun shot Chanyeol a look that was somehow both thanking him and telling him to shut up at the same time. Baekhyun was always pretty impressed by his variety of ‘motherly’ looks. “I think the tea is ready,” he put an arm around Jongin’s waist and smiled a bit. “Let’s take it back to my room, shall we?”

Jongin nodded and pulled away silently, smiling a bit and bowing quickly as he passed Chanyeol and Baekhyun.

“He’s pretty damn cute,” Baekhyun spoke up while Joonmyun finished preparing the tray.

“Thanks,” despite the fact he was now a bit calmer, it was impossible to not see the sly smile that crossed Joonmyun’s face as he said the word. “He is, isn’t he?” And then he, too, cleared out the kitchen, leaving Baekhyun standing there with Chanyeol as he waited on the milk to warm over the stove.

“Not as cute as you, though,” Chanyeol’s large body slid behind Baekhyun, and he rested his chin on his shoulder as he watched the man stir in the chocolate-sugar powder.

“I’d hope not,” Baekhyun smiled a little to himself. “I want you to think I’m the cutest.”

“I do,” Baekhyun turned the stove off and poured the hot chocolate into mugs for them both, but before he could pick his own up to cool it, Chanyeol was sweeping him off his feet, bridal style, and carrying him back to their shared room.

“Chanyeol! What are you doing?! Put me down! The hot chocolate is going to get cold!”

“Sorry, but I’m in the mood for something a little sweeter tonight.”

Baekhyun weighed the decision between being with Chanyeol and nursing a warm cup of hot cocoa and decided that he didn’t mind this at all.

 

÷

 

The past week had been spent moving into their new place. The first night, they had slept on some pallets on the floor before deciding that they definitely needed a mattress. The second night, they had slept on the mattress they had purchased earlier in the day. Their furniture delivery ran late, and it wasn’t until late in the evening on Friday that they had put the last of the chairs together. Of course, most of the day had been figuring out how the furniture actually went together and putting the chair pieces together upside down.

“No one should ever let us move together on our own again,” Baekhyun muttered to himself as he toweled off his wet hair and slid into bed, completely naked, beside the man he loved. “Next time, we hire someone.”

Chanyeol propped himself up on an elbow and turned to face him. “Aww, but I had fun!”

Of course he did, Baekhyun sighed and pulled the covers up to his neck. “Can you turn the heat on?”

Without complaint, Chanyeol did just that. Baekhyun smiled to himself and closed his eyes. It had been a long time since he had felt so at ease and happy with his life. As he returned, Baekhyun grabbed Chanyeol and started to snuggle against him, causing the boy to cry out in alarm. “Cold hands! Cold hands!”

Baekhyun laughed and buried his face against the other man’s neck. “Mm, I am cold, and you are so warm,” he ignored the protests and nuzzled up against him until Chanyeol’s protesting stopped and he could feel the warmth fill his extremities. He closed his eyes, ready to settle in and doze off when a rush of warm air covered the shell of his ear, sending him leaping back. “Y-Ya!”

“Revenge,” Chanyeol smirked and rolled over so that his larger body was covering Baekhyun’s.

“You’re so mean to me, you know that? Trying to freeze me, blowing in my ear…”

“Who cooked you dinner and drew you that bath, hmm?” Chanyeol took the opportunity of Baekhyun’s shock to lean down and kiss him deeply, pulling him up by his lower back to press their bodies together. His soft, pink tongue traced the line of Baekhyun’s lips teasingly until the smaller boy parted them, inviting him inside.

Baekhyun’s slender arms looped around Chanyeol’s neck and pulled him down, deepening the kiss in a way that left them both breathless as they pulled back. He panted a bit, staring up at Chanyeol only to find the cheekiest grin plastered across his face.

But Baekhyun was no longer in the mood to laugh. He leaned up again, capturing Chanyeol’s mouth in a bruising kiss, a deep moan rumbling in his throat. Chaneyol’s hands were already beginning to roam to cup his pert ass and pull them so that their groins touched and heated under the delicious friction their bodies created.

“I really want to fuck you hard right now,” Chanyeol broke the kiss, gazing at Baekhyun with a fiery intensity. “So hard that you can’t move in the morning, and I have to bring you breakfast in bed.”

The words caused Baekhyun’s groin to tighten and another, louder moan to be heard in the room. “Chanyeol, when you say things like that…”

“You’re so beautiful after you’ve showered, and you smell so nice,” Chanyeol kissed his way down Baekhyun’s neck, his hands moving down his perfectly thick thighs and resting under his knees to hike his legs up around his waist. “Like roses and lavender.”

“Stop being so cheesy,” Baekhyun tightened his fingers in Chanyeol’s hair, trying to ignore the fluttering in his chest at the stupid compliments Chanyeol gave him. They really were cheesy, but they were also sincere and heartfelt, and Baekhyun was only half-heartedly protesting. He loved the way Chanyeol spoke to him and made him feel safe and wanted.

Chanyeol seemed to know what he was thinking because the next words out of his mouth were “But you like it when I’m cheesy.” And Baekhyun did.

He let his head tip back slowly to expose the soft flesh of his neck for Chanyeol’s taking, a soft sigh escaping his parted lips. “Do I really taste that good?” He asked as Chanyeol kissed wetly up his shoulder to his jaw, cupping his face and tilting it away to suck at the skin there.

“The best,” was the response he received. Chanyeol gripped his hips tighter and rocked fully down against him, each roll of his hips slow and sensual. “You’re so responsive tonight,” he chuckled, trailing the same hand that had been gripping his jaw down his chest and abdomen. It came to rest around his half-hard cock, pumping it slowly as he pressed him back onto the mattress. His knee pushed Baekhyun’s legs further apart so that he could bend more fully over him, his other hand moving between his thick, pale thighs to stroke the soft skin there.

Baekhyun moaned and tensed under his touch, his own hands trailing down the warm expanse of Chanyeol’s back before he cupped his bottom and pulled him down closer, his hips rocking up of their own accord in an effort to increase the friction. “How do you want me?” he purred before grabbing Chanyeol’s cock in a tight, firm grip. Unlike Chanyeol’s hands, his were softer, more delicate, and his fingers quicker and more nimble.

“Just like this,” Chanyeol responded, lips parting as Baekhyun’s hands worked over him.

“You’re already this hard from touching me?” Baekhyun asked in slight surprise. Chanyeol grunted. He let his fingers dip lower, circling the puckered muscle of Baekhyun’s entrance with two slick fingers. Baekhyun froze as he felt the all too familiar sensation of the fingers pushing inside him, stretching him slowly. “Ch-Chanyeol…” he stammered the name.

His own, delicate thumb swirled along the reddened head and pushed against the slit. “You look delicious. I want to taste you.” He gasped out, a third finger working its way slowly inside him.

“Please. Oh fuck, Chanyeol. It feels so good when you stretch me open like that.” Chanyeol curled them expertly along his inner walls, stroking them as they squeezed and tightened around him. There was a soft ‘aha’ as the tip brushed across a small walnut-sized bundle of nerves which had Baekhyun crying out with the pleasure of the dull ache in his stomach.

Before he could regain his composure to continue showering Chanyeol in affection, the taller man grabbed him and rolled him over, hoisting a surprisingly strong arm under Baekhyun’s lithe waist to hoist him up. “Chanyeol, what are you..?”

He didn’t really need to question it. Chanyeol’s long, pink tongue brushed across his hyper-sensitive hole and licked across the opening. Baekhyun couldn’t quite pin-point his emotion, but it was somewhere between heaven and awkwardness. “You really don’t have t-“ he cried out again, face pressing down onto the pillow. He could feel the upward curve of Chanyeol’s lips on his backside and knew the other man was smirking without a care.

Chanyeol’s lips and tongue were wet and warm and lavished his entrance in attention it had never quite known. Baekhyun trembled, feeling dizzy and weak, as he tried to fully regain his senses. But his lover’s open mouthed kisses around one of the most sensitive, forbidden parts of himself was driving him wild. “Now this…this tastes amazing,” Baekhyun blushed at the words and screamed out as his tongue wiggled deep inside him.

His hard cock bounced against his stomach, smearing precum across his abdomen with each roll of his hips. He fucked himself back onto Chanyeol’s tongue, loving the way the warm, wet muscle slid over his sensitive opening and lathered it up with spit. Chanyeol’s open-mouth kisses and licks were becoming more eager, and his hands moved up to hold Baekhyun into place as his hips began to jerk with each orgasm that rifled through his small body. He chanted Chanyeol’s name and clawed at the sheets, trying to ground himself, but all he could see was stars and he felt as if he was floating through the air.

Chanyeol pumped him through his orgasm and sat up a bit, still holding Baekhyun down with his hand so that he could move to mount him from behind. “Wow, you’re so open after all of that, I could just slide in,” Baekhyun felt the tip of Chanyeol’s cock press against the ringed muscle, and suddenly everything came crashing back down. “Just hold still. I’m going to fuck you now…”

Baekhyun did as he was told, trying to hide his fear. If Chanyeol was going in raw, it was going to hurt. He tensed without realizing it and cried out just as the other man began to push inside. It didn’t feel dry, though. In his moment of confusion, he relaxed just enough for a particularly sharp thrust to send Chanyeol’s cock buried deep inside his body. He screamed and threw his head back, his body shaking from the sudden intrusion. But, he realized, Chanyeol must have applied the lube when he was half-passed out from Chanyeol bringing him to such an intense orgasm.

He groaned softly and tried to push himself onto all fours, but Chanyeol kept him pressed firmly against the mattress. “Chanyeol, p-please don’t tease,” Baekhyun begged softly, just as Chanyeol pulled out only to slam back into him so hard that his fingers twisted the already abused sheets, his toes curled under, and he screamed.

Chanyeol found a quick, powerful rhythm to fall into, leaving Baekhyun at his mercy. “Please, Chanyeol. Please. It’s so good… You’re so good at this. Your cock is so big, it fills me up like no oth-“ he bit back the rest of the word as his entire body moved a couple of inches forward with yet another hard thrust of Chanyeol’s hips.

“You’re so beautiful when you’re begging for it,” Chanyeol pitched his hips particularly sharply inside him, and Baekhyun screamed again. “I-I need it. I need you. Please make me come again. Please…”If he could have started to grind his hips against the mattress under himself, he would have, but Chanyeol’s weight kept him from receiving his own sexual gratification at his own whims.

“I know you want it so bad, don’t you?” Baekhyun cried out in frustration as Chanyeol’s frantic thrusting slowed into a nice, steady rocking motion. He twisted his head, gazing back at Chanyeol with a challenging look which only made the other man chuckle. “Relax, Baekhyun. You know I’ll take care of you,” another sharp lilt of his hips and he was fucking Baekhyun down into the mattress with an unmatched ferocity.

It was frantic, quick, and uncontrolled the way Chanyeol’s hips drove against Baekhyun’s soft backside and thighs. Baekhyun bit against the pillow and sobbed out as his second orgasm hit him hard. “Ch-Chanyeol!!” he screamed the man’s name as his body began to seize up and shake in what was one of the biggest orgasms he’d had in a very long time. Chanyeol’s hand moved from its position on Baekhyun’s lower back to his neck and jaw so that he could grab the boy and turn him into a bruising kiss.

And then Chanyeol’s hips stilled, and Baekhyun could feel it as he began to release inside him. He groaned softly and closed his eyes, taking it all in. When he opened them, they stung of wetness, and Baekhyun realized that he had tears in his eyes due to the overwhelming feelings his orgasms had left him with. “Chanyeol…” he whispered as they broke apart. “Mmm… You’re so amazing, Baekhyun. You feel so good… so fucking good.”

Chanyeol slowly lowered his body weight to cover the smaller boy so that they could lie together without Chanyeol having to pull out. But, after a moment, he pulled off and flopped down beside him, collecting Baekhyun in his arms and holding him close to his chest.

They stayed there, lying with each other in silence. Baekhyun felt each rise and fall of Chanyeol’s chest and the little huffs of air against the top of his head. Only when the breathing became deep and even did he realize that Chanyeol had fallen asleep. He couldn’t help but smile and tilts his head up, kissing the man’s lips chastely, a whirlwind of emotion overwhelming him with the force of a typhoon. And that’s when he finally allowed himself to speak the forbidden words.

“I love you, Park Chanyeol.”

 

÷

 

Today was a cold, rainy day in November. A single, red rose sat high on a window-sill overlooking the bustling city of Seoul. The clouds rolled and rumbled high in the sky, casting dark shadows over the streets below.

Today, nothing could cast a shadow on Byun Baekhyun. As he prepared to open up the shop for the morning, he was swept into his boyfriend’s arms and a kiss planted firmly on his lips. “What was that for?” he laughed, trying unsuccessfully to wriggle out of his grasp. It seemed that every day, Chanyeol was getting stronger. It was either that, or Baekhyun was getting weaker, but due to the fact Chanyeol was no longer as awkwardly lanky as he once had been, Baekhyun placed his bets on the former.

“What do you mean ‘what was that for’? Don’t you know what day it is?” Chanyeol was grinning at him, that stupid infectious grin that made him fall head-over-heels in love for the man.

“November 22nd. Why?” The exasperated sigh from Chanyeol’s mouth was far too dramatic for Baekhyun’s tastes, and he hit the man’s shoulder playfully. “Aren’t you going to tell me?”

“It’s been a year since I started working here.”

Realization slowly began to dawn on Baekhyun, and he smiled. “Yeah, it has been… what a crazy year, too.” Baekhyun had never imagined that he would find his life so full and so worth living. He looped his arms around the other’s neck and held him there, enjoying the feeling of being close. Just as he shut his eyes, he felt a tap on his shoulder which had him opening them only to be faced with a morning cup of coffee.

As he took it with a smile, something fell onto his fingers.

A ring.

There weren’t any words for the elation he felt, but somehow he managed a small “Yes” as he laughed and kissed Chanyeol again, pulling him down to his level so that he could show the man just how many ways he can say ‘yes’.

Their relationship will never be perfect. There will always be things that Chanyeol does that drives Baekhyun crazy, and Chanyeol won’t always understand why Baekhyun is so particular and picky when it comes to his daily chores. There are scars that each of them carry that will never truly fade, even with time.

But the love they have for each other has blossomed like the late-blooming rose in the summer.

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for thebaekfest challenge and as a gift to the lj user "milkboyish". I hope you all enjoyed!


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